Leicester City 'Put Off' by Saint-Etienne's £27m Valuation for Wesley Fofana

Leicester City are interested in signing Saint-Etienne's Wesley Fofana in the remaining weeks of the transfer window, but want to negotiate a lower price for the defender.

The Marseille-born 19-year-old is highly regarded and has also attracted the interest of fellow Premier League club Everton, as well as Serie A giants Milan.

However, the Foxes are reluctant to match the Ligue 1 side's demands for the young defender which have 'put off' Brendan Rodgers' side for now, according to the Daily Mail.

The French side reportedly want £27m if they are to part ways with Fofana in the coming weeks. However, Leicester are willing to pay around £18m for the defender.

It is no surprise Rodgers is in the market for a centre-back, with the manager forced to use midfielder Wilfred Ndidi as an emergency defender in a recent friendly fixture against Blackburn Rovers.

The value of young defender Fofana has shot up over the course of the 2019/20 campaign. Saint-Etienne received a €4.5m bid from RB Salzburg last summer which was seriously considered, but eventually turned down.

Les Verts also received €20m offers in January from AS Monaco and RB Leipzig, according to L'Equipe (via Get Football News France). Both bids were rejected.

The report also adds Saint-Etienne have turned down two approaches from Milan during this transfer window, rejecting bids of €15m and €18m.

Adil Aouchiche's arrival at Saint-Etienne this summer caused a stir which has reportedly led to the unrest of Fofana, increasing speculation over the Leicester target's future. Aouchiche signed on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain, but his contract at Les Verts is supposedly worth more than that of Fofana.

Closer to home, Leicester have also been linked with Burnley star James Tarkowski, as well as Torino's Nicolas Nkoulou.