Stephen Warnock has stated that he ‘fears’, from Leicester City’s perspective, they might have to sell Newcastle United and Chelsea transfer targets, James Maddison or Wesley Fofana, this summer.
The former left-back added that the Leicester owners might have to sell those players in order to ‘reinvest’ given that they might have been hit hard by the recent pandemic, with Newcastle and Chelsea knocking on their door, as he told the Football Show on Sky Sports.
It has been recently suggested that those at the King Power Stadium have found Newcastle’s multiple bids for Maddison as ‘offensive’ – he assisted on the opening weekend of the new Premier League season when his side let a 2-0 lead slip against Brentford.
Then there is Fofana, who is a key player in Brendan Rodgers’ backline, but Chelsea are keen to bring him on board with their new owners looking to make an impression.
It doesn’t bode well for the Foxes because they are also the only team, in the top five European leagues, that haven’t signed a single player this summer.
Either way, on paper, Warnock feels Leicester’s starting XI is pretty strong, but fears that might now be disrupted.
“It’s a really good 1-11, isn’t it?!,” said Warnock. “On paper it’s brilliant, they will compete at the top end of the Premier League. Top six and top eight.
“But you just fear that they are going to have to sell, either Fofana or Maddison to re-invest. You think their owners, are duty-free, aren’t they?!
“From the pandemic, they would have been hit probably more so than most, so they probably are holding back thinking ‘we can’t really invest too much money, so we need to sell to do that’.”
WILL FOFANA AND MADDISON LEAVE?
This might just be about how far the rumoured teams are willing to push for these players.
If Chelsea are very serious about adding further quality to their backline, then they will go all out for Fofana, and in truth, they need more depth.
Equally, Newcastle want to make an impression themselves, and with all the money in the world at their disposal, then know they can throw a lot of money at Maddison.
Either way, both would be top, top additions to Newcastle and Chelsea, if they were to move before the September 1 transfer deadline.
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