The going rate for a talented young central defender shoots up and up. Chelsea were reminded of that when they embarked on their summer overhaul of a squad that had lost Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen to Real Madrid and Barcelona. Both were out of contract and, as the club’s new owners were still setting budgets, set off for Spain for free.
Chelsea targeted a precocious 22-year-old to fill some of the gap. After a sustained pursuit, Matthijs de Ligt preferred to go elsewhere, joining Bayern Munich from Juventus, and in doing so taking the total invested in him in transfer fees over his meteoric career past €150 million. De Ligt, a precocious captain of Ajax in his teens, joined Juve for €85m a month before his 20th birthday. Three summers on, Bayern parted with over €65m.
Jules Kounde, 23, and Kalidou Koulibaly, 31, were the next priority targets and Chelsea were successful in luring the older of the pair from Napoli. Early indications are that the authority and confidence that has made Koulibaly one of the most coveted footballers in his position for the past six years will easily translate from Serie A to the Premier League.
But Kounde turned down a transfer to Stamford Bridge, instead joining the procession of new signings at Barcelona. Barca committed €50m to Sevilla, money they have yet to show La Liga’s Financial Fair-Play auditors they can afford to spend while meeting Spanish football’s rules governing allowed expenditure-to-income. Kounde hopes that bureaucratic hurdle will be overcome in time to be properly registered as a Barca player by the weekend, having missed out on a debut in the season’s opening day draw against Rayo Vallecano.
Chelsea had no difficulties in offering as much to Sevilla as the fee Barca paid for Kounde, and are now channelling those funds - and plenty more - towards a chase for Kounde’s French compatriot Wesley Fofana. The player is keen to make the move and his club, Leicester City, had been made firmly aware of his enthusiasm to upgrade to a Champions League club and the chance to develop his game alongside Thiago Silva, the veteran Chelsea centre-back, and Koulibaly. Leicester, who bought Fofana from Saint-Etienne for €35m in 2020, have rejected two Chelsea bids so far, and have told the bidders they value the player at £80m.
Chelsea held by Tottenham - in pictures
It is a vast valuation for a defender who has played just 82 matches of top-flight or European football for his senior clubs, who is only 21 and yet to win a cap for the senior France national team. But so plainly has Fofana shown his potential and maturity since moving to England that Leicester have put the same kind of price-tag on him that attached to the teenaged De Ligt, or for that matter, to another central defender whose career Leicester developed, Harry Maguire.
Maguire’s £78m (around €87m) move to Manchester United set a new benchmark for fees for defenders, in the same summer, 2019, when Bayern paid €80m to Atletico Madrid for Lucas Hernandez and Juventus bought De Ligt from Ajax.
Fofana wants to give himself the platform, in club football, that will push his claims to be considered, alongside Kounde, Hernandez, United’s Rafael Varane and rising stars like Arsenal’s William Saliba, Liverpool’s Ibrahim Konate and Bayern’s Dayot Upamecano for a role in France’s defence of their World Cup title come November.
He appreciates he has catching up to do, given that he missed most of last season for Leicester with injury. After an outstanding first season in English football, his progress was abruptly interrupted when he suffered a broken leg in a friendly against Villarreal. His recuperation took seven months, but there was little delay in his establishing that neither his strong self-belief nor his mobility had been compromised. Fofana scored, in a Uefa Conference League tie, in his first fixture back in mid-March.
By June he was in contention for promotion from the France Under-21 squad up to Didier Deschamps Bleus. “He’s the same Wesley as before,” said the France U21 coach Sylvain Ripoli, echoing his Leicester coach Brendan Rodgers' assessment of Fofana’s character and qualities and the praise he has earned from Kolo Toure, the former Manchester City and Ivory Coast centre-back who assists Rodgers and took Fofana, who has Ivorian heritage, under his wing at the club.
“You feel he loves defending, and it’s important that a defender has that relish for it,” observed Ripoli. “He covers space quickly and he has a fierce side to his game.”
150 summer transfers - in pictures
The National in Davos
We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
World Cup warm up matches
May 24 Pakistan v Afghanistan, Bristol; Sri Lanka v South Africa, Cardiff
May 25 England v Australia, Southampton; India v New Zealand, The Oval
May 26 South Africa v West Indies, Bristol; Pakistan v Bangladesh, Cardiff
May 27 Australia v Sri Lanka, Southampton; England v Afghanistan, The Oval
May 28 West Indies v New Zealand, Bristol; Bangladesh v India, Cardiff
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
TUESDAY'S ORDER OF PLAY
Centre Court
Starting at 2pm:
Elina Svitolina (UKR) [3] v Jennifer Brady (USA)
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) v Belinda Bencic (SUI [4]
Not before 7pm:
Sofia Kenin (USA) [5] v Elena Rybakina (KAZ)
Maria Sakkari (GRE) v Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) [7]
Court One
Starting at midday:
Karolina Muchova (CZE) v Katerina Siniakova (CZE)
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) v Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR)
Veronika Kudermetova (RUS) v Dayana Yastermska (UKR)
Petra Martic (CRO) [8] v Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)
Sorana Cirstea (ROU) v Anett Kontaveit (EST)
Stage results
1. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Deceuninck-QuickStep 4:39:05
2. Michael Matthews (AUS) Team BikeExchange 0:00:08
3. Primoz Roglic (SLV) Jumbo-Visma same time
4. Jack Haig (AUS) Bahrain Victorious s.t
5. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Bora-Hansgrohe s.t
6. Tadej Pogacar (SLV) UAE Team Emirates s.t
7. David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ s.t
8. Sergio Higuita Garcia (COL) EF Education-Nippo s.t
9. Bauke Mollema (NED) Trek-Segafredo s.t
10. Geraint Thomas (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers s.t
Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten
Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.
Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Batti Gul Meter Chalu
Producers: KRTI Productions, T-Series
Director: Sree Narayan Singh
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Divyenndu Sharma, Yami Gautam
Rating: 2/5
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
Profile box
Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)
Ahmed Raza
UAE cricket captain
Age: 31
Born: Sharjah
Role: Left-arm spinner
One-day internationals: 31 matches, 35 wickets, average 31.4, economy rate 3.95
T20 internationals: 41 matches, 29 wickets, average 30.3, economy rate 6.28
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
The Gentlemen
Director: Guy Ritchie
Stars: Colin Farrell, Hugh Grant
Three out of five stars
Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
What's in the deal?
Agreement aims to boost trade by £25.5bn a year in the long run, compared with a total of £42.6bn in 2024
India will slash levies on medical devices, machinery, cosmetics, soft drinks and lamb.
India will also cut automotive tariffs to 10% under a quota from over 100% currently.
Indian employees in the UK will receive three years exemption from social security payments
India expects 99% of exports to benefit from zero duty, raising opportunities for textiles, marine products, footwear and jewellery
if you go
Getting there
Etihad (Etihad.com), Emirates (emirates.com) and Air France (www.airfrance.com) fly to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport, from Abu Dhabi and Dubai respectively. Return flights cost from around Dh3,785. It takes about 40 minutes to get from Paris to Compiègne by train, with return tickets costing €19. The Glade of the Armistice is 6.6km east of the railway station.
Staying there
On a handsome, tree-lined street near the Chateau’s park, La Parenthèse du Rond Royal (laparenthesedurondroyal.com) offers spacious b&b accommodation with thoughtful design touches. Lots of natural woods, old fashioned travelling trunks as decoration and multi-nozzle showers are part of the look, while there are free bikes for those who want to cycle to the glade. Prices start at €120 a night.
More information: musee-armistice-14-18.fr ; compiegne-tourisme.fr; uk.france.fr
