Chelsea’s Wesley Fofana admits he ‘weighed up’ shock Marseille approach

Chelsea centre-back Wesley Fofana (23) has admitted that he weighed up a shock approach from Olympique de Marseille during the summer transfer window. 

Fofana joined Chelsea from Leicester City for over €80m back in the summer of 2022, however, he spent almost the entirety of the 2023/24 season sidelined by a serious knee injury. However, he has now recovered and started in all three Premier League games under Enzo Maresca.

However, as he revealed in an interview with Free Foot, there was a chance that he would be pulling on the Chelsea shirt at all this season, but the shirt of Marseille. The former AS Saint-Étienne centre-back detailed an approach from Les Phocéens’ sporting director Mehdi Benatia. 

“I had a conversation that really touched me,” began Fofana, who recently earned a re-call to the France squad, which he ultimately declined following consultation with Didier Deschamps as he continues to work his way to full fitness. “I would be lying if I said I didn’t weigh it up. It was from Benatia, Marseille’s sporting director.”

‘The objective is to succeed at Chelsea’ – Fofana

He continued: “It touched me and I think everyone knows why. I thought about it but there you go, the current objective is to succeed at Chelsea, to try and play regularly, and to establish myself at my club.”

However, whilst he remains fully committed to Chelsea, Fofana has not ruled out a move to childhood club OM in the future. “But OM, we’ll see one day. I still have a contract until 2029 and we’ll see after that. I have never hidden it, [Marseille] is my city, my club, I am an OM supporter. We’ll see if I end up abeing at Marseille in a few years, or if I stay at Chelsea for the rest of my career,” he said. 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle