Wesley Tidjan Fofanais a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Chelsea and the France national team.
Club career
Saint-Étienne
Having been in the youth system since 2015, Fofana signed his first professional contract with Saint-Étienne on 15 May 2018. He made his debut for the club in a 3–0 league win over Nice on 18 May 2019.
Leicester City
Fofana joined English Premier League club Leicester City on 2 October 2020, signing a five-year contract. The transfer fee paid to Saint-Étienne was reported as up to £36.5 million. On 15 May 2021, he played in the 2021 FA Cup Final, which Leicester won 1–0 for his first career honour in England. He and teammate Hamza Choudhury both celebrated draped in the flag of Palestine, during the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis.
On 21 May 2021, Fofana won Leicester City's Young Player of the Season award after being voted by the club's supporters.
On 4 August 2021, during a pre-season friendly against Villarreal, Fofana suffered a broken leg following a challenge by Fer Niño. On 17 March 2022, Fofana played his first match since his injury, scoring in a 2–1 defeat to Stade Rennais in the UEFA Europa Conference League which secured Leicester's progress to the next round on a 3–2 aggregate score.
Chelsea
On 31 August 2022, Fofana joined Premier League club Chelsea on a seven-year contract for a reported initial fee of £70 million, plus £5 million in add-ons. After signing for Chelsea, Fofana criticised his former club Leicester, accusing them of issuing "false and misleading comments" during his protracted transfer. On 3 September, he made his debut for the club in a 2–1 win at home against West Ham United in the Premier League. He scored his first goal for Chelsea on 5 October in a Champions League 3–0 victory against AC Milan at Stamford Bridge, but suffered a major knee injury after 38 minutes, forcing him to be substituted off, and was ruled out until February.
Fofana returned from injury on 18 February 2023, in a 0–1 home defeat against Southampton. He scored his first ever Premier League goal against Leeds United on 4 March, in a 1–0 home victory. On 18 July 2023, Chelsea revealed that Fofana had suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury and had undergone a surgery.
