Marsh urges old club to make Fofana bid
MAN CITY LEGEND CLAIMS CENTRE-HALF IS WORTH £75M
MANCHESTER City legend Rodney Marsh has urged his former club to test Leicester City’s resolve with a cash plus player bid for Wesley Fofana in January, writes Andy Turner.
The 19-year-old centre-back has emerged as one of the hottest prospects in the Premier League, earning rave reviews from his manager Brendan Rodgers and a string of football pundits and commentators.
One of those pundits, former England and Man City striker Marsh, believes the Foxes defender would be the perfect player for Pep Guardiola, who is trying to regain the title after losing out to rivals Liverpool last season.
Marsh, who is co-host of SiriusXM digital radio show Grumpy Pundits, was so impressed by the performance of Fofana during Leicester’s 1-0 win against
Wolverhampton Wanderers at the King Power Stadium at the weekend that he claimed the young Frenchman is worth more than double the money the Foxes paid for him last month.
Taking to Twitter, the 76-year-old said: “Watched Fofana six or seven times... Man City should bid £75 million... Plus John Stones.”
City splashed out a reported £32 million for the Saint-Etienne player who signed a five-year deal at the King Power Stadium in October.
Rodgers described his latest performance at the weekend as “colossal” and admitted that although Fofana was thoroughly scouted, the exceptional nature of the teenager’s start to his City career, and the consistency he has shown, has surprised him.
“We knew he was a top player for someone so young, and when we spoke to people out there and seeing all the clips, you could see he has anticipation as a defender, he has speed, he has aggression, he defends forward, so all the attributes we like here,” said Rodgers.
“I think the surprising thing is that if you look at the seven games he’s played and the level of the teams we’ve played, and the consistent run of games, how he’s coped with that.
“He’s absolutely colossal for a young guy.”
Former Leicester striker Gary Lineker commented on Fofana last month, tweeting: “Player alert: the excellent recruitment team at @LCFC have found another gem.
“Early to heap too much praise, but Wesley Fofana can sweep, he can leap and he can keep the ball, tweeps.”
The Match of the Day host added at the weekend: “Goodness me, what a player Fofana is going to be/already is.”
But City supporters have been quick to react to Marsh’s suggestion that Man City should make a bid for Fofana. Here’s what they have been saying: John Dalby: “And so it starts. I must admit it’s started quicker than I thought it would.”
Julie Sutton: “Good luck with that.” Nick Cairns: “That’s a cute offer from a mid-table team.”
Paul Forward: “Need at least £100 million and why would he go to an inferior team?”
Scott Davies: “About time these socalled big clubs started scouting players.”
Jonny Evans: “Knew it wouldn’t be long. Hopefully we will start to see players staying like Vardy. Only Kante has moved on to better things. Our club needs to grow now.”
Peter Whitmore: “Here we go already, he has only played a handful of games for us but played very well, I will say.”
Janet Miller: “Get lost Rodney Marsh.” Rob Francis: “Ten times more and we’ll still say no. Do your own recruiting.”
FoxFanatic: “I am sick of these washed up ex-players of rich clubs advising their clubs to buy another Leicester player. It’s not a shopping aisle!”