Having lost Antonio Rüdiger and Andreas Christensen as free agents, Chelsea bolstered their centre-back position by signing Kalidou Koulibaly and Wesley Fofana in the summer.
The Frenchman arrived at Stamford Bridge from Leicester City, towards the end of the window. Prior to that, the Blues showed interest in Jules Koundé and Benoît Badiashile.
Koundé snubbed Chelsea to join Barcelona from Sevilla, while Badiashile decided to stay put at AS Monaco. The latter’s form for the Ligue 1 side has seen him debut for France in the ongoing international break.
Badiashile started the matches against Austria and Denmark. L’Equipe have a report on the 21-year-old, which includes quotes from him, his brother, and France U21 manager Sylvain Ripoll.
It’s said the west London club ‘positioned themselves’ for the signing ‘in recent weeks’, with Monaco holding them off.
“Being humble and respectful does not mean not being ambitious. I know how to be patient. I’m at a big club, I’m playing and I don’t want to go any faster. If things have to be done, they will be done, like for the World Cup,” Badiashile said.
“You shouldn’t put pressure on yourself with a departure. We were talking about personality in a locker room, if I had left earlier, would I have worked as well as that in recent months?”
