Matchday With The Manager: How & Why Leicester City Signed Fofana

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Matchday With The Manager: How & Why Leicester City Signed Fofana

Acting with speed and precision in the transfer market and doing detailed due diligence was key to the signing of defender Wesley Fofana, says Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers.

2020-10-04T06:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager: How & Why Leicester City Signed Fofana

Acting with speed and precision in the transfer market and doing detailed due diligence was key to the signing of defender Wesley Fofana, says Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers.

2020-10-04T06:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager: How & Why Leicester City Signed Fofana

Acting with speed and precision in the transfer market and doing detailed due diligence was key to the signing of defender Wesley Fofana, says Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers.

2020-10-04T06:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager: How & Why Leicester City Signed Fofana

Acting with speed and precision in the transfer market and doing detailed due diligence was key to the signing of defender Wesley Fofana, says Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers.

2020-10-04T06:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager: How & Why Leicester City Signed Fofana

Acting with speed and precision in the transfer market and doing detailed due diligence was key to the signing of defender Wesley Fofana, says Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers.

2020-10-04T06:00:00.000Z

Fofona, 19, has made just 30 competitive appearances in French football for AS Saint-Étienne, but the work carried out by the Club's scouting network has highlighted an exciting talent. The Marseille-born centre-back is Leicester's third signing this summer, following the arrivals of Timothy Castagne and Cengiz Ünder, who, like Fofana, are promising young prospects who match City's desired profile of player.

Earlier this week, Rodgers spoke in depth about the characteristics of that profile and why he believes Fofana, recently called up to France's Under-21s squad, fits the bill for the Foxes.

The Northern Irishman also provided an insight into the timeline which eventually leads to a player joining the Club - a process which starts by creating a set criteria for the squad.

"Firstly, it’s understanding the profile of player that will fit in with how we work," Rodgers explained, reflecting on a productive summer transfer window so far for City.

"There’s many good players around the world, but if they don’t fit in to the characteristics of how you play or work, you can waste a lot of time and effort and get the wrong type of player. Secondly, we’ve got Lee Congerton here and Lee’s got big experience having worked at the highest level and in Europe. He’s got a lot of brilliant contacts around Europe.

"Of course, the team working here with him, the guys working in the recruitment team, are very talented. They understand the market very, very well also.

"We know we cannot go and sign the £60M, £70M, £80M player. My message has always been around [signing] players that would be no risk, we’ve done all of our work. Fofana, for example, is 19 years of age. He’s got huge potential and, for me, there’s not too big a risk there because of his game and all the analysis that has gone into that."

With travel restrictions in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, scouting has become more challenging over recent months, with staff not able to attend matches in Europe in person.

However, through a dedicated approach to video analysis and profiling, the Club's recruitment team have been able to provide Rodgers with detailed information about Leicester's targets.

"Obviously, it’s been different for scouts over these last months, in terms of watching players live, but they do a great deal of analysis behind the scenes now," he continued.

"Through their contacts as well and all of the executive reports that they’ll produce for us, it gives us the best information about the player, on and off the pitch, so there’s a lot of work. These are players that the Club has tracked for a long time and we’re just absolutely delighted to get the three of them over the line."

Actually signing players, though, relies on several factors. Firstly, speed is essential, Rodgers believes, in order to make the Club's interest known, while also helping them to beat any rivals for a player's signature.

"You have to act quickly in the market," the 47-year-old added. "A club like Leicester, if you leave it too long, then the player ends up elsewhere, so you have to have your eye in early. That’s a huge credit to the team because the minute he broke into first team football, we saw the games he played and the opposition he was playing against, and you clearly saw the talent.

"You could see the temperament and the quality. You’ve then got to act on that. You can see across the Premier League, some of the players who are 18 or 19 and their valuations.

"This may, in the next numbers of years, look a bargain. This boy here is a big talent and hopefully we can develop him into being an even better talent."

In the case of Fofana, Rodgers is excited to work with the young Frenchman at King Power Stadium and believes the 19-year-old brings both physical and tactical attributes to the Club.

"This is a boy who’s so fast," he revealed. "I’d be surprised if he loses a race. He’s so quick and he’s aggressive. It’s how we’re building the team, step by step, to be more dynamic, to be faster and more aggressive.

"He’s a player who fits the bill for us. He’s a big talent, with a lot to work on, but there’s no doubt he can come in and play. Whatever the opposition, he’s stood out. He’s a street player and, for me, it’s important that you’re good in the air. He’s got this incredible leap. He hasn’t been involved in any of the national teams, but ironically, he’s just been called up because of his start to the season and his move here.

"He’s been called up into the young French team, so that will be great experience for him. He’s been outstanding, but there’s still a lot of work for him to do at 19.

"He can cope with the physicality of the game in this country, no problem. But the speed of it, the tactical changes, the tempo of it, the rhythm of it, will all be different to playing in France."

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