Chelsea to bizarrely sell centre-back to Aston Villa when new man arrives – it’s NOT Wesley Fofana | OneFootball

A curious report claims Chelsea are planning to sell one of their better defenders to Aston Villa if signing a new centre-back in the summer, and despite another setback for Wesley Fofana, it’s not the Frenchman.

Fofana became the fourth most expensive defender of all time back in 2022 when joining Chelsea from Leicester City for £70m prior to add-ons.

Injuries have plagued his time at Stamford Bridge, with Fofana racking up just 60 appearances in three-and-a-half seasons.

However, even when fit, Fofana has done little to suggest he’s worth the money and the 25-year-old cost his team dearly on Saturday.

A reckless lunge saw Fofana dismissed late in the contest with Burnley while the Blues were one up. Burnley would go on to grab an injury-time equaliser against the ten men of Chelsea who are labouring in their quest to qualify for the Champions League.

It’s well-documented Chelsea are on the hunt for a premium new centre-back in the summer after missing out to Liverpool for Jeremy Jacquet last month.

But according to the latest from Football Insider’s Pete O’Rourke, if and when the new man arrives, it’ll be the surprise figure of Trevoh Chalobah who makes way.

The 26-year-old shone during a loan spell at Crystal Palace last season and this term, has been a guaranteed starter in the Blues back-line, starting all but one of their Premier League matches. The only game he missed was through suspension.

As such, it comes as something of a surprise to see the report state Chelsea ‘plan to’ sell Chalobah to Aston Villa in the summer, with Unai Emery’s side viewing Chalobah as an upgrade on Tyrone Mings.

One possible explanation for the shock sale could come in the form of Chalobah’s status as a homegrown player.

Sales of homegrown stars are extra lucrative for clubs, given the proceeds are logged as ‘pure profit’ on the books.

Chelsea are no stranger to offloading their academy graduates in order to spend heavily on new signings in recent times.

Over the past few years, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Mason Mount, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ian Maatsen, Lewis Hall, Conor Gallagher, Bashir Humphreys and Armando Broja, to name just eight, have all been sold outright.

In other news, Liverpool could capitalise on the uncertainty at Tottenham Hotspur by signing at least one of their players this summer, with sublime talent Luka Vuskovic having become the third star to appear on the Reds’ shortlist.