"It's getting closer and closer" - Journalist says Chelsea are closing in on completing £80 million major summer deal

Journalist Simon Phillips has reported that Chelsea are moving closer to agreeing a deal for Leicester City defender Wesley Fofana.

The Blues are in the hunt for a second new centre-back this summer after signing Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli for a fee of around £33 million. Fofana has been on their radar and a move could potentially be on the horizon.

Phillips told GiveMeSport:

“In terms of the fee and the deal, Chelsea have been talking all week again and are roughly about £10m apart in the fee, which they are now trying to make up in add ons and are also trying to make the deal more favourable for Leicester with the structure of it.”

The Blues have already seen two bids rejected by Leicester for Fofana, but are determined to land the young French defender this summer.

Phillips believes that Thomas Tuchel's side are very close to agreeing a fee of around £80 million and should see the deal done quickly. He continued:

“Chelsea’s latest proposal should reach around £80m, but I still think Leicester are going to push for that £85m. So, it’s getting closer and closer as the days go on, but they just need to find that final fee that Leicester will accept.”

Fofana will join Koulibaly as Tuchel's new central defensive option alongside Thiago Silva, Cesar Azpilicueta and Trevoh Chalobah. The club lost Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger this summer, both of whom left as free agents to join Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively.

The two-time UEFA Champions League winners recently let Malang Sarr leave the club on loan to Monaco with an option to buy. They could also be set to part ways with the likes of Ethan Ampadu, Marcos Alonso and Emerson Palmieri.

---

Chelsea have had a busy summer transfer window

After a slow start to the ongoing transfer window, Chelsea have been busy all summer trying to sign new players in every department. They have landed five intended targets so far but have also failed to sign several other players.

Raheem Sterling stands out as their best signing of the window and looks like the ideal player to lead the Chelsea line next season. Koulibaly was impressive during his Premier League debut against Everton last week, while Cucurella is also expected to hit the ground running.

With a little over three weeks left for the market to close, Tuchel's men could be in line to complete more deals as well.