Rodgers and Gerrard dicing with danger
Foxes must sell Fofana and shake up squad
AT some point this week, Leicester’s powerbrokers must have an honest chat about whether keeping Wesley Fofana really is in the club’s best interests.
Demanding a fee from Chelsea in excess of £80million — the world record for a defender — is all well and good, and Leicester are determined to show they will not be pushed around by wealthier clubs.
But is it really worth keeping Fofana at all costs? Because this is a team and a club gone stale, in desperate need of fresh impetus and energy. one way to achieve that is to bring in new players, and the only way to generate the funds needed to sign some decent ones is to sell Fofana.
Leicester’s financial situation is such that even if they did sell Fofana, it is doubtful that all the proceeds would be reinvested in the squad. some of them would, though, perhaps enough to bring in a replacement for Fofana at centre back, as well as the pacy wide attacker craved by manager Brendan Rodgers.
The sight of Fofana — deemed mentally unready to play — sitting among the home fans as his team slid into the bottom three summed up Leicester’s predicament. Sportsmail revealed last Friday that the 21-year- old had missed parts of the week’s training programme and Rodgers confirmed it here.
This is an outstanding young centre back, but if Leicester keep him for another season, what then? Nobody has ever paid £100m for a defender. Do Leicester really believe that if they deny Fofana his move, his value will grow by £20m over the next year — especially if his disappointment affects his performances?
After just one point from the first three games, Rodgers finds
himself the target of Leicester fans, and his side were booed off on saturday.
Yet the manager suggested in February that the squad needed a ‘healthy shake-up’ and that the club should not be afraid to sell players to generate the transfer budget required.
The problems he predicted are now coming to fruition.
Asked whether selling might now benefit Leicester, Rodgers said: ‘We lost Harry maguire in my first summer here but were able to bring in players who could help the squad.
‘Then a year later Ben Chilwell went to Chelsea and we brought in Wesley Fofana and Timothy Castagne. You can’t be afraid to do that as long as it’s good business for the club, and if it’s good for the player, it’s normally a win-win situation.
‘For some players, when the window shuts it’s a good
moment because they can totally focus on playing again and getting on with their careers. some players may feel they have lost the opportunity of a dream. They may just never be the same so that’s always the danger.’
After a gloomy opening week of the season, southampton have four points from two games, and boss Ralph Hasenhuttl has some impressive raw material to work with. substitute Che Adams’ double won the game after James maddison had put Leicester in front but mohammed salisu, Armel Bella- Kotchap and Romeo Lavia can have strong seasons. Hasenhuttl said: ‘We have a team who have super-belief in what we do.’ LEICESTER (4-3-3): Ward 6; Castagne 5.5, Amartey 5, Evans 5.5, Justin 6; Maddison 6.5, Ndidi 6, Dewsbury-Hall 6; Perez 5.5 (Tielemans 65, 5), Vardy 6.5 (Daka 65, 6), Barnes 6 (Iheanacho 76, 6). Scorer: Maddison 54. Booked: Maddison, Daka. Manager: Brendan Rodgers 5.5. SOUTHAMPTON (4-2-3-1):
Bazunu 6; Walker-Peters 7.5, Bella-Kotchap 8, Salisu 8,
Djenepo 7; Ward-Prowse 7,
Lavia 6.5; Elyounoussi 6, Aribo 7 (Lyanco 88), A Armstrong 6.5 (S Armstrong 70, 6); Mara 6 ( ADAMS 59, 8.5). Scorer: Adams 68, 84. Booked: Aribo, Lavia, Elyounoussi.
Manager: Ralph Hasenhuttl 7.
Referee: Michael Salisbury 5. Attendance: 30,850.