Chelsea agree transfer deal worth £70m for Leicester City defender Wesley Fofana – Paper Round

Chelsea strike Fofana deal

Chelsea have finally agreed a deal with Leicester City for 21-year-old central defender Wesley Fofana. The French player had wanted to link up with Stamford Bridge boss Thomas Tuchel since the interest became known, and The Sun reports that a bid has now been accepted. Chelsea will pay £70 million plus a significant uplift in potential add-ons.

Paper Round’s view: Fofana is one of the best young centre-backs in European football and with Chelsea’s current setup they can afford to plan for the future. Kalidou Koulibaly is hugely experienced, and Tuchel also has Thiago Silva, Cesar Azpilicueta and Trevor Chalobah who he can use while Fofana adjusts to the demands of one of the world’s biggest clubs.

United could enter race for Aubameyang

Manchester United could turn to Barcelona striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, with the Spanish club willing to let him leave to ease their financial problems. The 33-year-old is down the pecking order after the arrival of Robert Lewandowski, and United want an extra option up front as Cristiano Ronaldo’s future remains unclear. Real Madrid’s Marco Asensio is also an option, claims The Daily Mail.

Paper Round’s view: Aubameyang only left Arsenal because of his poor relationship with Mikel Arteta, he continued to perform well on the pitch for much of his time at the club, and flourished again at Barcelona. A £25m asking price seems high given he is 33, but if his fitness and speed holds up for another couple of years then he will be a bargain transfer.

United reconsider Antony move

Manchester United are wondering whether to follow up their £76m bid for Ajax’s 22-year-old winger Antony, after the Dutch side rejected the offer. That is already higher than the club wanted to go and The Telegraph suggests United could now move onto other options, which would include Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic and PSV Eindhoven forward Cody Gakpo.

Paper Round’s view: Spending such a huge sum of money on a player with no experience of the most demanding European leagues is a huge gamble, and while he certainly looks the part when he plays for Ajax, that is a massive step up. Gakpo would be half that and doesn’t look significantly worse, and Pulisic is probably even less, given he would only be a loan signing.

Barcelona stuck with Depay obstacle

Barcelona had hoped to sell Memphis Depay to Juventus, but the move broke down when Marseille’s Arkadiusz Milik became the better option for the Italian side. That means that Barcelona are still unable to register Jules Kounde despite Samuel Umtiti leaving on loan. They need to hope Manchester United are willing to step up with a 10m euro offer for the player, reports Marca.

Paper Round’s view: United need someone with the self-belief and versatility to step in to replace Cristiano Ronaldo, and there are few players quite so confident as Memphis. He acquitted himself well at Lyon and then at Barcelona, so there is no doubting that he has improved in recent years, but it still means waiting for Cristiano Ronaldo’s future to be resolved.