Chelsea’s new signing Wesley Fofana has admitted he’s had messages off Reece James recently urging him to sign at Stamford Bridge.
After weeks of speculation, Chelsea finally confirmed on Wednesday afternoon the signing of Fofana from Premier League rivals Leicester City.
The 21-year-old defender has penned a mammoth seven-year contract at the Bridge.
He’s a talented French centre-back that becomes the latest high-profile addition to Thomas Tuchel’s squad this summer.
Fofana had messages off James
Fofana has shared that Chelsea wing-back and new teammate James has been privately messaging him ahead of the summer move.
“Reece James messaged me on Instagram one month ago. ‘You come and play with me at right-back?’ I love this, it’s good for my confidence. He’s my guy now,” Fofana said.
On paper, Fofana and James should now be able to become mainstays in the Blues line-up together.
First of all, centre-half Fofana arrives from Leicester with super talent and proof he can be a force in the Premier League.
It seems a no-brainer for Tuchel to slot his new signing straight into the right of a back three, which would allow perfect mentor Thiago Silva to be in his ear.
In addition, you could play 22-year-old James just in front of the new signing in a right wing-back position. Incidentally, Pat Nevin has recently been discussing how Chelsea get the very best from James in a wing-back role.
Defence needs to wake up
The fact that Chelsea have conceded eight goals in their opening five Premier League games says it all about the defensive frailty.
Hopefully, Fofana’s arrival in the group can go a long way to sorting out the backline.
It’ll be a big help once Tuchel gets some consistency in his team selection with the defence, and most of the fanbase will be picking the same crop of defenders to start the majority of games together.
It’ll be interesting to see how a back three of Fofana, Silva and Kalidou Koulibaly shapes up.
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