Wesley Fofana hits out at Brendan Rodgers for ‘misleading comments’ to ‘expose’ him before joining Chelsea in explosive Leicester City farewell statement
Defender Wesley Fofana has hit out at Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers after completing a big-money move to Chelsea from the Foxes.
The Frenchman joined Chelsea for a fee of £75 million. However, the player was not happy with how he was treated by Leicester manager Rodgers during the final stretch of his stay at the club. He released an extensive social media statement after his exit and kept a portion to express his feelings towards his former coach.
While expressing his gratitude to the supportive fans, Fofana stated that his former manager tried to 'expose' him as he wrote in a section of his statement:
"I chose not to communicate during this transfer window despite all the criticism and all the often false and misleading comments, even when they were coming from the club. I understood and I learned. I didn't want to damage the image of the institution and I chose to take it rather than answer.
"I thank Top [LCFC Chairman] for his understanding, thanks to the managers, to the coach who has always appreciated me, even if he chose to expose me a lot lately... I got it coach."
Rodgers had previously opened up about the player's attitude during the final stages of his stint with the Foxes. The manager even decided to demote him to train with the club's Under-21s. Rogers had said previously (h/t dailymail.co.uk):
"For me, it's always about the commitment and when the players are ready to commit to the ethos of the team (they can return)."
Rodgers compared the player's situation to that of Harry Maguire's move to Manchester United. However, he noted that unlike Fofana, Maguire remained extremely professional until the end of his tenure at the club. He said:
"In fairness to Harry, in terms of his behaviour and his focus for the club, he was fantastic right until the last minute."
Wesley Fofana names Chelsea legend Didier Drogba as his icon
Wesley Fofana has named Didier Drogba as the Chelsea legend that he idolized growing up.
The Ivory Coast forward is considered one of the biggest legends in Chelsea's history. He scored 164 goals and provided 86 assists in 381 games for the Blues across two spells.
Fofana, the Blues' most expensive defender of all time, spoke about Drogba on the club's official website:
"I'm a very big fan of Drogba, I used to watch every game. I like Kante, I like the personality and how he is a nice guy. I hope to be like the legends of Desailly and Makelele."
Chelsea will next face West Ham United at home on September 3.