Wesley Fofana

[RonnieTodger]

6 minutes ago, filbertway said:

The deal was signed in order to maximise the amount of money we could get for him. That was the only purpose of it. It was clearly obvious at the time that he wouldn't be with us within the next 18 months, so by signing this contract is ups his value.

 

Same reason we looked after him so well during his rehab, because he was a highly rated asset who we wanted to make a good return on.

Eventually, yeah. Not in the same summer. 

[Wasyls Pec Deck]

Selling him now for £75m looks like an absolute master stroke given the lads recurrent injury record. 

[filbertway]

3 minutes ago, RonnieTodger said:

Eventually, yeah. Not in the same summer. 

I'm sure the plan would have been for him to leave in the following summer. However we've gone and got £70 million odd for him so can't really grumble too much.

 

It's clear now that he's absolutely buggered as well, so even if you didn't rate the business at first, knowing what we know now there's no way you can't be happy with it surely.

[Paninistickers]

21 minutes ago, filbertway said:

The deal was signed in order to maximise the amount of money we could get for him. That was the only purpose of it. It was clearly obvious at the time that he wouldn't be with us within the next 18 months, so by signing this contract is ups his value.

 

Same reason we looked after him so well during his rehab, because he was a highly rated asset who we wanted to make a good return on.

It was clear at the time that their was a gentleman's agreement that he'd serve a full season and after that, we'd listen to offers. 

 

He got the best of both worlds. Payrise with us and a move - all without keeping his side of the deal. We got the money, but the whole thing added destabilising factor to an already difficult summer.

 

Still, all's well that ends well. As someone else says, tho furious at the time, we've ended up with a much needed 70m quid and a player off our books who's fcked. 

 

I don't offer him any sympathy though. He offered us none. What goes around comes around and I'm quite content his career is struggling.

 

 

 

 

[jamfox]

10 hours ago, sacreblueits442 said:

...one more season, would have meant £70m less in our coffers!!!

True , it worked out well in the end i guess.  he did really destabilize  the whole club and i know its "if buts and maybes" but well maybe! things would have worked out different..   Also its not like his actions had any concern for LCFC it was all about him so its still the worlds smallest violin from me  

[murphy]

58 minutes ago, sacreblueits442 said:

...the problem with your take on this is that, the purchase of Vestergaard and Faes,  should have left us with  £60m in assets!!!

  The fact that we bought so poorly was down to the club.

This is true, I'm not blaming Fofana for our poor recruitment, as you say, that is the fault of the club.  I am just outlying the sequence of events as they happened and why the Fofana signing ended up being a disaster for us in my opinion.  Those two centre halves were bought in as direct replacements for him.  Firstly for the injury and secondly for the unexpected sale.  

[Chico1958]

I have to say I feel for the lad, although he did leave under a cloud tbf.

 

However on our part we've done ok out of selling to Chelsea apart from Kante of course 

 

Chilwell - 45 million - 379 Days Injured

Danny Drinkwater - 30 million - only played 7 games

Wes Fofana - 75 million - 126 Days Injured before this one

 

Luckily for him he's young enough to get over this one but I do fear that he will continue to get these type of injuries for the rest of his career.

 

[bmt]

3 hours ago, murphy said:

 

We didn't really, did we?  In fact the whole Fofana saga was a disaster for the club in my view.

 

We paid £40+m for him and sold him for around £70m which looks like a good profit on paper until you factor in St. Etienne's sell on fee which was about 25% from memory I believe.

 

Then we have the big injury on the eve of the season which left us exposed and paying dead wages for a season and the timing of it led to the baffling purchase of jannick Vestergaard.  £15m wasted plus dead wages again.  Then on the eve of the next season he kicks off, demanding a move and we potentially waste another £15m plus wages on Wout Faes, trying to replace Fofana for a second time,  who, after a promising start, has not exactly covered himself in glory.  I reckon we are down overall.

 

We were relegated by a single point.  I think it is safe to say that without Fofana's tantrum and forced exit  we would have stayed up, so he has cost us big time.

 

I don't wish serious injury on him but I don't wish him success either and I am not too proud to admit that if he fails at Chelsea it will bring me a degree of satisfaction.

I agree with all of this but it has happened and without that money we'd be in a worse financial position if we went down anyway.

 

It was still a good fee for a played who has been injured pretty much since whatever way you look at it.

[bmt]

2 hours ago, Phil Bowman said:

Yeah, they do talk about that. But then they go to Saudi Arabia or suchlike and prove that for most of them all that talk is a load of crap.

But until I've been brought up in the roughest bits of Paris or literally dirt poor in an African village I'm not going to slag them off too much for wanting money.

Most of the players (not all) moving to Saudi have already have decent careers. 

 

You can have both, and Chelsea are more likely to win major trophies than us

[Cincinnati Fox]

Are you not Missing out on add ons with him

not playing ? And Chelsea generally being Shite 

[honeybradger]

1 hour ago, Cincinnati Fox said:

Are you not Missing out on add ons with him

not playing ? And Chelsea generally being Shite 

He has a 7 year deal, any playing addons will be achieved, trophies probably not but we'll see

[foxile5]

The only medal he'll be able to show his kids he really contributed towards is the one from us and he won't be able to feel good about it because he left under a cloud.

 

Maybe he can do a few practice celebrations to ease the pain.

[JimJams]

On 18/07/2023 at 16:07, AKCJ said:

He isn't a near literal child.

The Jury's not buying that one, mate.

[sishades]

I would love to say Im gutted for the lad. But .....

[foxile5]

36 minutes ago, JimJams said:

The Jury's not buying that one, mate.

At 23 I was living in South East Asia, had a degree, and, crucially, had developed a sense of morality and right and wrong.

 

OP is hoping that Fofana reads this and dives into his DMs.

[Heskey2011]

8 hours ago, Phil Bowman said:

So many slagging him off for how he engineered his departure - didn't he do exactly the same with his previous club when coming to us? And not so many on here had a problem with that.

No, because that was not our club you mad head, of course we didn't think he would do the same to us, we may have suspected it, but that doesn't make what he did ok.

 

We also wouldn't like it if Vardy went to shef wed and scored against us and in celebration took piss out of foxes, but we very much enjoy it when he does comparable to other clubs, this is football.

 

 

[Out Foxed]

7 hours ago, Chico1958 said:

I have to say I feel for the lad, although he did leave under a cloud tbf.

 

However on our part we've done ok out of selling to Chelsea apart from Kante of course 

 

Chilwell - 45 million - 379 Days Injured

Danny Drinkwater - 30 million - only played 7 games

Wes Fofana - 75 million - 126 Days Injured before this one

 

Luckily for him he's young enough to get over this one but I do fear that he will continue to get these type of injuries for the rest of his career.

 

done **** all with the proceeds so it's not really something to shout about

[jonathan_ross]

14 hours ago, Out Foxed said:

done **** all with the proceeds so it's not really something to shout about

 Two own goals away at Liverpool with the proceeds, takes a very unique kind of signing for that.

[Thebluefox85]

That injury that finished him as a top top player that night! I never understood why Rodgers played him for so long in that game when the season was days from starting! And we needed him for a big season ahead! Why chelsea paid that money is beyond me but glad they did! It did us a huge favour! When you snap your leg in 2places and do your ligaments and acl all in one hit you’re never going to the same no matter what rehab you have! And Chelsea have him in what a 8year contract 🤣🤣 

[moseeds]

His youthful arrogance meant he left us under a bit of a cloud. But have to feel for the young man. He was headed towards becoming France's best centre back alongside Saliba, probably becoming the backbone for the national team for a decade. Ifs and buts. Now he will be lucky to have a career at all. Must be mentally devastating. Hope he is getting support. The money he was meant to have earned is doubtful as well. Could end up in a terrible spiral. If nothing else his case proves why footballers have to take whatever is on offer because you just don't know what will happen - even if it hurts fans in the process.

[Freeman's Wharfer]

Why would you feel bad for the guy? 
 

You might perhaps sympathise with him losing a large chunk of his career, or the mental grind of repeated rehab, but he set his stall out early at St Etienne and then subsequently at Leicester that his main concern is money.

 

This is not a player that has acted in the interests of a love of the game or his professional progression, it’s a player that has shown wherever the money is that’s where you’ll find him.

 

The money doesn’t stop flowing with him on the physio table so he should be fine, right?!

[Corky]

Our fans have had enough of players not being committed to the club, led by example by the "elite" manager. Too many have downed tools/ not put enough in when required.

 

Wishing injury isn't correct or warranted; not feeling huge sympathy is understandable.

 

 

[SpacedX]

1 hour ago, Freeman's Wharfer said:

Why would you feel bad for the guy? 
 

You might perhaps sympathise with him losing a large chunk of his career, or the mental grind of repeated rehab, but he set his stall out early at St Etienne and then subsequently at Leicester that his main concern is money.

 

This is not a player that has acted in the interests of a love of the game or his professional progression, it’s a player that has shown wherever the money is that’s where you’ll find him.

 

The money doesn’t stop flowing with him on the physio table so he should be fine, right?!

But it isn't solely about the money though. Sure, that's a motivation and an objective - but it isn't the sole one. A Steve Bull or an Alan Shearer is rare to find these days - every player wants to play for the biggest club possible and in so doing, also gain greater recognition and increase their chances of international selection. Although this also lines the pocket of their agent, it also enhances their portfolio. I'm fairly sure that one of the reasons that Harry Kane is still at Spurs - and as much as we laugh - is because he wants to win a major trophy there. Today, with the much greater emphasis upon the international market, few have that local affinity/loyalty. Even when we won the Premier League title it was always going to be difficult to retain our best players and to attract the best talent. We are - or were - a stepping stone feeder club and you really can't blame Fofana for immediately honing in on Chelsea's interest.  I think the move was almost entirely predicated upon "professional progression" and who can blame him? What is not acceptable however are instances in which players, who are paid and contracted to commit to their club and supporters whilst under contract, "down tools", (one for the football cliché thread there), go missing on the field, put in half arsed performances or are not selected by the manager because their "head is turned". 

[cityfanlee23]

Rudkin did a fantastic deal on this one. Locked him down to a new contract when we knew he wasn’t going to be here much longer, bumped the price up and sold another dud for £75m+ 

 

 

[Gamble92]

27 minutes ago, cityfanlee23 said:

Rudkin did a fantastic deal on this one. Locked him down to a new contract when we knew he wasn’t going to be here much longer, bumped the price up and sold another dud for £75m+ 

 

 

£45m plus add ons wasn't it? Assume the add ons are performance related too. It was also in £15m installments a year.

 

I do tend to be harsh on Rudkin, (because he deserves it), so maybe i am being overly critical here. I just think we signed a great player to a long contract because we wanted to eventually sell him for bigger than we did. No one could have predicted what would happen to him in that Friendly.