Leicester City only targeted Wesley Fofana after seeing a £31.5 million bid rejected by Juventus for Merih Demiral, according to Calciomercato.
With Caglar Soyuncu stuck on the sidelines for a number of months, the Foxes’ new £36 million teenager was thrown in at the deep end by Brendan Rodgers during last week’s Premier League clash with Aston Villa.
But, just 180 minutes into his Leicester career, Fofana already looks the real deal.
Classy, commanding and far more composed than you would imagine for a 19-year-old with a handful of senior appearances under his belt, the Frenchman is wasting no time in showing why former St Etienne boss Claude Puel has tipped him to become a bona fide world-beater.
According to reports in Italy, however, Fofana was not Leicester’s number one choice when they entered the market for a new central defender.
Instead, that honour went to a man the 2016 champions had been looking at since late last year.
Calciomercato claims that Leicester’s £31.5 million offer for Demiral was immediately batted away by a Juventus side who view this uncompromising, Nemanja Vidic-inspired 22-year-old as ‘untouchable’.
Leicester, after realising that Juve were not for turning, immediately went after Fofana instead.
While the Ligue 1 import has made a hugely impressive start to life at the King Power, Leicester fans could be forgiven for wondering just how impressive a Demiral-Soyuncu partnership might have been.
They certainly look the part when playing together for the Turkish national team.
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