Chelsea have reportedly lined up Bayer Leverkusen’s Edmond Tapsoba as an alternative signing if they are unable to capture Leicester City defender Wesley Fofana.
Boss Thomas Tuchel is keen to add to his defensive options and the Blues have had at least a couple of offers for Fofana rejected by the Foxes.
And Sky in Germany have been reporting that Tapsoba will be top of the list of targets if a deal for Fofana cannot be agreed.
Fofana has made it clear he wants to move to Stamford Bridge – and Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers has revealed he is training with the development squad because of the uncertainty over his future.
“He’s training with the under-23s so he can get his football fitness and keep working. It’s so important at this stage to control any sort of distractions that may be there,” Rodgers said at a press conference.
“He’s a good kid, it’s just been a really challenging situation for him. I’ve had it a number of times in my career where there’s players who can deal with it, cope with it, get on, want to help their team-mates. There’s others that just can’t deal with with the distraction.
“Of course that distracts them and it’s not quite right, and they miss a training session, then you need the full commitment from your players.
“These guys get well paid. The very least you can do is turn up. And if you don’t, with all due respect, you can’t then just think you can walk into our group.
“But like I say, within day to day, he’s a good kid – it’s just been hard for him to deal with everything, and whilst he’s in that frame of mind, it’s been difficult for him to play.”