West Ham’s one-that-got-away could become ‘one of the best in the world’

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While William Saliba’s Arsenal career has got off to a far more sluggish start than anyone expected, his former St Etienne teammate is already turning heads at Leicester City.

Just 90 minutes into his Premier League life, Wesley Fofana is already well on his way to following in the footsteps of Jamie Vardy, N’Golo Kante, Riyad Mahrez and James Maddison at a club who continue to make the transfer market look like child’s play.

At just 19, and with a £36.5 million price-tag on his head, Fofana would have been forgiven for showing a few signs of nerves during his Foxes debut in Sunday’s clash with Aston Villa.

But a performance full of maturity, class and composure will have come as no surprise to anyone who watched France’s latest central defensive starlet shine at St Etienne under Claude Puel.

“He can become one of the best defenders in the world,” said the former Leicester boss, who gave Fofana his chance across the Channel (Mercury).

Jonny Evans will be without regular partner Caglar Soyuncu for around three months after the Turkish international was ruled out with a long-term injury. But, in Fofana, the experienced Irishman has a new associate, one brimming at the seams with promise.

“I thought he had an excellent game (against Aston Villa), he’s a really young lad but you can see that potential that he’s got,” Evans told Leicester’s website.

“He’s already putting in big performances for his previous Club and he’s come in and had a really good debut.

“It’s exciting to see a young lad like that coming through with that amount of talent and he’s going to be a top player for Leicester for sure.”

The Foxes’ gain, then, might just be West Ham’s loss.

The Hammers failed with a £33 million bid for Fofana in September before settling, rather disappointingly, on the underwhelming loan signing of Craig Dawson from Watford.

So, while West Ham have brought in a player who has suffered relegation in two of the last three Premier League seasons, Leicester can now count one of the most exciting defensive talents in the world in their already-impressive roster.

While a run of seven points from nine games and a stunning comeback at Tottenham has silenced the critics somewhat, 2020 felt like another window full of missed opportunities at the London Stadium.

Let’s not forget, after all, that West Ham sold Grady Diangana to raise funds for a top-class, big-money central defender – not a 30-year-old Watford loanee.