Chelsea’s new signing David Datro Fofana has already stated his admiration for Blues icon Didier Drogba and could become part of Graham Potter’s youth revolution amid a flurry of young talent recently joining the club. The Ivory Coast striker will move to Chelsea in January from Norwegian side Molde for an £8million fee, following a knee injury that ruled Armando Broja out for the season.
The 20-year-old previously revealed that he idolised Drogba growing up, and will be proud to have the chance to follow in his footsteps. “Chelsea have been my favourite club since I was little,” Fofana told Norwegian outlet TV2. “Drogba played there, so they have always been my club. So it’s my dream.”
The youngster is one of several irons Chelsea have had in the fire since co-owner and acting sporting director Todd Boehly joined the club in terms of the transfer market. Outside of the big-money signings of Raheem Sterling, Marc Cucurella, Wesley Fofana and Kalidou Koulibaly, a young core may be building and shows a lot of promise for the future.
Fofana joins Broja as the young striker options at the club, even though the Albanian’s ACL injury has ruled him out for the remainder of the season. Potter has already ousted Edouard Mendy in favour of Kepa Arrizabalaga as the Blues’ number one, as the ex-Brighton coach wants his goalkeeper to be more comfortable with the ball at his feet.
Chelsea moved to secure some of the midfielders within the league that have the most potential, as Carney Chukwuemeka and Omari Hutchinson joined from Aston Villa and Arsenal respectively and Blues fans will not have to wait long to see them regularly involved in the team, as both were on the bench for the 2-0 win over Bournemouth on Tuesday.
They could form an exciting midfield trio with Conor Gallagher in the future, who is fighting for his spot in the team after impressing on loan at Crystal Palace last season.
He earned a call-up to the senior England team under Gareth Southgate as proof that the future at Stamford Bridge could be very bright under Potter, who has a proven track record of developing young talent.