Fabrizio Romano has said that Chelsea have an ‘agreement in place’ to land Molde FK striker David Datro Fofana.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, the transfer guru claimed that the price could be around €12m (£10.5m). Furthermore, Chelsea are now discussing personal terms with the player.
Fofana is only 19 but already has two caps for the Ivory Coast, making his debut back in September. Before playing his football in Norway with Molde, the forward played in his homeland for Abidjan City and AFAD Djekanou on loan.
Romano stated: “Chelsea entered the race and now, from what I’m told, they have an agreement in place with Molde that is more than €10m, could be around €12m.
“They are discussing and they discuss also about a percentage of the future sales – it’s something Molde wanted. But Chelsea are now closing in on the deal with Molde; they are now discussing personal terms with the player.”
TIF Thoughts on Romano’s comments…
We believe that this signing from Chelsea is in response to the injury to Armando Broja. The Albanian suffered an ACL injury and is set to miss the remainder of the season.
It’s looking very likely that Christopher Nkunku of RB Leipzig is set to head to Stamford Bridge in the summer, with Romano stating recently that the deal is ‘almost ready’.
As for Fofana, his return for Molde in the Eliteserien is very impressive. The Ivorian bagged 19 goal contributions in 24 league matches – not bad at all for a 19-year-old.
So, it would seem that Chelsea’s thinking is to bring Fofana in as competition up front. With Nkunku likely on the way very soon, they won’t want to spend big money on a forward who could be on the bench come the start of next season.
However, if Fofana hits the ground running upon arrival, it’s a win-win situation. One option they could explore is playing the 19-year-old out on the wing, as he’s played out on the right a few times in the past.
Overall, this does have the look of a positive move from the Blues.