Leicester City will reportedly reject any offers for Wesley Fofana which are below their £70m valuation.
The 21-year-old was absent for the majority of the 2021-22 campaign with a broken leg sustained during pre-season.
Fofana eventually returned to make seven starts in the Premier League, as well as agreeing to extend his contract at the King Power Stadium until 2027.
However, on Tuesday evening, reports began to emerge that Chelsea were ready to turn their attention to the Frenchman having missed out on a number of other targets.
The West Londoners are aware that Leicester have not made a first-team addition all summer and are struggling to free up funds and space in their squad for new signings.
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Nevertheless, according to CBS Sports journalist Ben Jacobs, the Foxes have no intention of entertaining any cut-price bids for the centre-back.
Jacobs acknowledges that Brendan Rodgers does not want to lose one of his key players, particularly at this stage of the summer with the Premier League due to commence on August 5.
While the sale of Fofana would bring its obvious benefits, fellow centre-backs Caglar Soyuncu and Jonny Evans currently face uncertain futures with less than a year remaining on their contracts.
With that in mind, the Northern Irishman may not want to further destabilise the status quo at the club with long-serving goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel already said to be on the verge of joining Nice.
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From Chelsea's perspective, Thomas Tuchel is eager to bring in another defender who can slot in on the right-hand side of his back three, the assumption being that Kalidou Koulibaly will take up a position on the opposite side.
Tuchel had hoped to get a deal for Jules Kounde over the line, but the Sevilla player is seemingly waiting to complete a transfer to Barcelona.
Paris Saint-Germain's Presnel Kimpembe is another alternative, providing that the homegrown talent can be convinced to depart the French capital.
Chelsea are also attempting to bring in a right wing-back with Inter Milan's Denzel Dumfries reportedly emerging as their first-choice target in that area.
Darren Plant
