Chelsea set to sell £11m striker: Preston, Derby County & Birmingham City should pounce ASAP | OneFootball

David Datro Fofana is set to find a new club this summer, and these three Championship clubs should be interested

David Datro Fofana's disastrous time at Chelsea is set to finally come to a permanent end, with the 23-year-old set to be sold by the Premier League club before the end of the transfer window.

The Ivorian arrived with plenty of promise in January 2023 from Norwegian outfit Molde, costing around £11 million after a 2022 campaign which saw him net 15 times in 24 Eliteserien games, helping his side win the title by 18 points.

However, Fofana quickly became one of the many exciting young players who would get lost in the shuffle at Stamford Bridge. He's made just four senior appearances for the Blues, one fewer than the number of clubs he's spent time with on loan since his arrival.

And now, according to The Athletic, the 23-year-old is set to be sold and is liked by teams in the Championship and abroad. If it is the English second tier he moves to, these three sides should be interested in staging a move.

Preston North End

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There arguably isn't a Championship club that needs a striker more than Preston North End, and that rang true before Milutin Osmajic was sold to Serie A side Genoa on Monday evening.

The Montenegrin was a controversial figure at Deepdale, but there was no denying he was a consistent goal threat and will need replacing, and quickly. As it stands, Genk loanee Jusef Erabi is the only recognised centre forward at the club.

Southampton's Cameron Archer seems to be one of their main targets on loan, but Preston need a permanent option at the top end of the pitch, and with Chelsea ready to let Fofana leave for good, he could be exactly what Paul Heckingbottom's side need.

The Ivorian still has a lot of untapped potential and needs regular game time to help realise that, which he'd definitely get at Deepdale, and they were also linked with him late on in last year's summer window.

If he could take those next steps, North End could be in with a good opportunity to make some much-needed profit in the future.

Derby County

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Derby County head into the final week of the transfer window still needing to upgrade their depth at the top end of the pitch.

No new striker has arrived at the club, despite Ben Brereton Diaz leaving at the end of his loan spell and Patrick Agyemang still set to be on the sidelines until around the new year after the unfortunate Achilles injury he picked up in April.

Granted, their marquee £7.3 million arrival last summer showed signs in his debut campaign of becoming one of the better frontmen in the division when fully settled in, and in the interim, Carlton Morris is a very good option up front.

Therefore, perhaps the Rams would be angling more for a loan option, as they look to plug a gap until Agyemang returns from injury. Perhaps fellow Chelsea frontman Shim Mhueka could be an option, but Fofana would still tick all the boxes needed.

You can never have enough firepower up front, and Fofana has exhibited that in the short time he's had out on loan elsewhere. He scored four in 15 Premier League games for a relegated Burnley side in 2023/24 and netted eight in 15 for Turkish side Faith Karagumruk in a loan spell last season.

Like with Preston, there's potential sell-on value here if a good deal can be made, but if Fofana can exhibit that scoring power at Pride Park, he could be exactly what John Eustace's side need to maintain a top-eight finish this season.

Birmingham City

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Marvin Ducksch's future at Birmingham City is uncertain. The German frontman was dropped for the final three games of last season and has played just six minutes in the opening three competitive games of the current campaign.

Sky Sports in Germany have reported that the Blues are ready to accept offers of €500,000 for him to head back to the Bundesliga or 2. Bundesliga, and while the 32-year-old hasn't been involved in much action this season, a sale would mean that someone would need to replace him.

It's evident that Chris Davies is high on August Priske, with the 22-year-old tipped for a breakout season now he has his feet under the desk, but only having Luis Vazquez in reserve does feel pretty light, even if Jay Stansfield can also deputise as the line-leader if needed.

Birmingham would have the money to get a deal for Fofana over the line, more so than Preston and Derby, and at St Andrew's, the Ivorian wouldn't be expected to get goals immediately, with him contending with Priske and Alvarez for the starting spot.

Ultimately, it all depends on whether Ducksch is a Blues player this time next week. If he does get sold, Birmingham could do much worse in reserve than the Chelsea frontman.