Chelsea-linked Wesley Fofana is not for sale, according to Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers. However, that hasn’t stopped the Blues tabling bids for the 21-year-old centre-back, the latest of which is believed to be £70million.
Fofana is one of a number of Foxes players attracting attention, with James Maddison and Youri Tielemans also being linked with moves away.
But with the Premier League season having already kicked off and Leicester steadfastly refusing to sell, time is running out to complete the signing of Fofana.
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football.london looks at just how long Chelsea and new owner Todd Boehly have got to get their man in what could end up being a world record deal for a defender.
In order for Fofana to play against Tottenham on Sunday
There’s just the small matter of a free-scoring Spurs for Thomas Tuchel’s side on Sunday.
A deal would need to have been signed off by the Premier League by noon on Friday in order for Fofana to make his debut in the fixture.
But while the signing of Fofana could be completed by that deadline, it seems unlikely that he would be thrust straight into the Blues line-up in such a high-profile fixture.
Before deadline day
The Premier League transfer window closes on Thursday, September 1 at 11pm, the same day as the Spanish, German, Italian and French transfer windows.
That still gives Chelsea and Leicester plenty of time to thrash out a deal.
However, should the two clubs need a little longer it is possible to submit a deal sheet between 9pm and 11 pm on deadline day. The sheet allows a club to confirm that a deal has been reached, allowing clubs additional time to submit the remaining documentation.
Provided the deal sheet is fully complete, Chelsea would then have another two hours in which to submit the full paperwork, potentially extending the deadline to 1am on September 2.
During the next transfer window
Should nothing be concluded in the summer window, Chelsea’s next chance to snare the centre-back would be in the winter window which opens on January 1, 2023 and runs through to January 31.
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