‘Those two players will be regular starters for years at Chelsea’ – Former Chelsea tells club
According to Frank Leboeuf has claimed that he’s very excited about the futures of Chelsea defenders Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile.
The Blues have dipped into the pool of French talent in the last year, bringing both Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile to Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea splashed out £70million (BBC) last summer to sign Fofana from Leicester City. The 22-year-old centre-back’s debut season in West London has been disrupted by injuries, but he’s been fit and fantastic in the past month.
As for Badiashile, he arrived from Monaco in the January transfer window for £35million (Sky Sports). The 21-year-old centre-half is already looking very accomplished as a first-team player during his first taste of the Premier League.
It’s very exciting to have two amazing young players in the defence, who will be learning from the experience of teammates like Thiago Silva, Kalidou Koulibaly and Cesar Azpilicueta.
Leboeuf thinks the French youngsters could have a big future together in the Chelsea backline.
Writing in Simon Phillips’ Substack, Leboeuf said: “When he (Fofana) signed for Chelsea he needed to adapt to the club, to the level, to the pressure that he had. Now he is showing to the world that he is very important; he is working hard, he’s very mature for his age, and I think along with Benoit Badiashile we have a great future in central defence – those players are going to be our strength for many years.”
There is a huge collection of youngsters at Graham Potter’s disposal right now, so let’s hope the same core can grow together moving forward.
Fofana, who’s had to withdraw from France’s senior squad during this international break, looks a real star in the making. Anyone who watched him at Leicester won’t be too surprised by how good he looks in a Chelsea shirt, though.
Meanwhile, it’s been a pleasant surprise to see Badiashile hit the ground running. He probably finds himself out of the best Blues XI right now, but he should be confident of a big future in West London.