Chelsea: Wesley Fofana hits out at Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers’ ‘false and misleading comments’

Wesley Fofana completed his £69.5million move to Chelsea on Wednesday and left Leicester with a parting swipe at the club and manager Brendan Rodgers.

Centre back Fofana signed a seven-year, £200,000-a-week deal to end a saga which saw him left out of Leicester’s last three games after Rodgers considered him to be in the wrong frame of mind to play.

In a ‘goodbye’ post to Leicester fans on social media, Fofana said: ‘I chose not to communicate during this transfer window despite all the criticism and often false and misleading comments, even when they were coming from the club. I learned. 

Wesley Fofana (left) has hit out at Brendan Rodgers (right) in an explosive social media post

‘I didn’t want to damage the institution and chose to take it rather than answer. I thank Top (Srivaddhanaprabha, Leicester owner) for his understanding, thanks to the managers, to the coach who has always appreciated me, even if he chose to expose me a lot lately… I got it coach.’

Rodgers, who banished Fofana to train with the club’s youth side as punishment for missing training, had said his handling of the saga is different from the ‘immaculate’ behaviour of Harry Maguire before his £80m move to Man United three years ago.

He added: ‘For me, it’s always about the commitment and when the players are ready to commit to the ethos of the team (they can return),’ said Rodgers.

The 21-year-old defender quit Leicester for Chelsea in a huge £69.5million deal on Wednesday

Foxes boss Rodgers had questioned the 21-year-old’s ‘commitment’, ‘focus’ and ‘behaviour’

‘He won’t be available for the weekend. He has trained with our Under 21s. It’s been a challenge for Wesley. If you aren’t in the right frame of mind, we have to move on.’

‘In fairness to Harry, in terms of his behaviour and his focus for the club, he was fantastic right until the last minute.

‘For Wesley it’s different. He’s a younger player, and maybe under different pressures behind the scenes. Wesley is a real good lad and has been brilliant for us in his time here. We have to see how the next period goes.’

Before Leicester played Southampton two weeks ago, NBC Sports commentators Robbie Mustoe and Tim Howard expressed their frustration at the French defender.

‘In terms of behavior, I really don’t like it. He’s 21 years of age, he’s on the back of a season last year where he broke his leg, so he’s just coming back,’ Mustoe said on the air.  

Fofana called his words ‘false and misleading’ and said ‘the coach chose to expose me a lot’

‘If he’s asking not to play, that’s just not good. He signed a five-year deal in March. Get your head down, do your job, what you’re paid for. If the deal is agreed, you’ll go… but I really dislike players saying they don’t want to play.’

Mustoe’s colleague Tim Howard echoed similar sentiments, continuing: ‘Declan Rice has done it right, he will not be a West Ham player in the future, but you’ve not heard a peep from him. 

‘Fofana, 21 years of age… sit down with the manager and the football club and say, “I want to leave, but that being said, I’ll be the hardest trainer and you can count on me”. There’s a right way to go about it.’ 

Meanwhile, Anthony Gordon will remain at Everton with Chelsea reluctant to overpay for the 21-year-old winger and the Toffees standing firm. Chelsea held further talks yesterday over a move for Barcelona’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. 

Aubameyang suffered an injured jaw in an armed robbery at his home in the early hours of Monday morning which could see him sidelined for weeks. Chelsea have made a last-ditch £44m move for Ajax’s Edson Alvarez as they look to strengthen their depleted central midfield.

Meanwhile, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel was fined £20,000 for his post-match comments and warned about his future conduct following his comments about referee Anthony Taylor after the 2-2 draw against Tottenham.