Wesley Fofana has to wait another year before leaving Leicester City, according to Arsenal legend Martin Keown.
It comes as talkSPORT understands the defender is unlikely to feature in the matchday squad for Leicester’s Premier League game with Southampton tomorrow.
Ahead of the clash, Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers claimed his defender – who played 52 times for the Foxes – was not for sale and admitted he would be ‘ready to drop Fofana from the team this weekend if he was not in the right”. state of mind’.
Leicester have already rejected a £70million offer from the Blues for the France Under-21 international, but the 20-year-old has reportedly already agreed personal terms with the west London club.
“Is Leicester still a stepping stone for players in their careers, even for their manager?” Arsenal legend Keown was interviewed on Friday’s White and Jordan show.
“It’s not pretty because they’ve been very successful in what they’ve done and it’s kind of a period of consolidation, almost, and hanging on to what they have could be a win.”
The Midlands club have yet to bring anyone on this summer due to Financial Fair Play concerns, and Rodgers are reluctant to lose any of their stars in their bid to improve on last season’s eighth place finish.
The Foxes have already sold stars Harry Maguire, Danny Drinkwater, Riyad Mahrez and N’Golo Kante for big money, which has seen them face a rebuild every time.
And with the transfer window closing soon, Keown advised Fofana that it was best to stay at King Power, and not just because it would cause problems for the Foxes if he left.
He continued: “Obviously he [Rodgers] going to have to sell someone. But if it comes this late in the window who will he buy now if Fofana leaves for all that money?
“But Fofana’s success is down to Brendan, so there’s a bit of loyalty here. He tries to keep the player calm, he doesn’t want him to overreact.
“If the player says outright look I want to go, that’s all, I sincerely hope he doesn’t. He will be a top player but I think he just needs to stay there again a year.
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