Wesley Fofana shed tears, faced criticism for laughing at the wrong moment and exposed racist abuse last season - but now he believes stability will lead to an "amazing" Chelsea future. The 25-year-old centre-back has been a controversial figure because of the difficulties he has faced since his £75m move from Leicester City in 2022.

"Football is like this. It moves fast, but it is a good stat," said Fofana. "For me, some years were difficult, but now I'm back. I'm playing, I'm fit." He is young, featured heavily under new manager Xabi Alonso in pre-season, and fit after injury troubles.

Fofana says it was his "dream" to join Chelsea, but Chelsea finished 10th last season and he was the fall guy for many supporters. He was racially abused on Instagram and says he will never stop calling it out. "It is not a big thing to expose people who do that," he said. "We need to educate people."

Alonso has picked Fofana in his strongest XI in pre-season, but Chelsea have nine centre-backs. Fofana is not on the "untouchable" list, but he believes managerial stability under Alonso will define Chelsea's success. "I think everyone knows we need stability," he adds.