Steve Cooper will know that a regular goalscorer will be key to his hopes of keeping Leicester City in the Premier League this season.
With Kelechi Iheanacho leaving upon the expiration of his contract, Leicester City have been left with Jamie Vardy, Patson Daka and Tom Cannon as striker options.
Vardy has featured just once in pre-season and is set to miss the start of the new campaign through injury, whilst Cannon was expected to leave on loan prior to Vardy’s absence.
Daka is inconsistent and has struggled to score on a regular basis since signing for Leicester in 2021, so Steve Cooper will be keen to improve his options to spearhead the Foxes attack.
With money tight this summer, the loan market could be key and it now looks as though Leicester may utilise that to resolve their centre-forward troubles.
Leicester frontrunners to sign Chelsea striker David Datro Fofana on loan
🚨🔵 David Datro Fofana, expected to leave Chelsea this summer on loan with possible obligation-to-buy clause.
Understand Leicester City are currently leading the race with Stuttgart and Villarreal also interested. pic.twitter.com/Tu0xxX64GI
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 5, 2024
Strikers who can guarantee goals at the top level come at an absolute premium and Leicester are unlikely to be able to afford a player of that calibre outright.
However, it looks as though Cooper is keen to bring in a young forward with bags of potential to help boost Leicester’s survival hopes.
That is according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, who posted on ‘X’: “David Datro Fofana, expected to leave Chelsea this summer on loan with possible obligation-to-buy clause.
“Understand Leicester City are currently leading the race with Stuttgart and Villarreal also interested.”
Fofana a better option than Patson Daka for Steve Cooper
Chelsea signed Fofana from Norwegian club Molde in January 2023 with the youngster having registered an impressing 34 goal contributions in 65 games.
A player with enormous potential, Fofana struggled on loan at Union Berlin for the first half of last season, but was much more impressive at Burnley in the second half of the campaign.
The Ivory Coast forward scored four goals and provided one assist despite just ten starts for a poor Burnley side as he showed glimpses of the quality that convinced Chelsea to spend £10.6 million to sign him.
By contrast, Daka scored just four goals in 30 games as Leicester were relegated from the Premier League in the 2022/23 season, also providing four assists.
Burnley boss Vincent Kompany was full of praise for Fofana after the 21-year-old scored a stunning strike against West Ham in March, saying: “It seems like he’s growing into the season and into the team as well.
“We will need performances like the performance he gave against West Ham. He was outstanding.
“The entire performance from Fofana was outstanding and we’ve needed it. “
A powerful runner and a real menace to defenders in a similar way to Vardy, Fofana could prove a really good addition if Leicester can get the deal done.
A superior presence to Daka and a player who has shown he can score goals in a struggling side last season, Fofana would undoubtedly provide Leicester with a better outlet than the Zambian.
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