Chelsea’s Fofana reveals how he convinced Leicester City to sell him

signed their priority summer target, Leicester City's centre-back,

on an initially £70m deal with a further £5m possible in add-ons as the French defender signed a seven-year contract with the Blues.

The Foxes stood firm through the negotiations as they rejected three bids for Fofana while the player himself had to push to ease his transfer to London.

Speaking to

, the

centre-back opened up on his dream move. He said:

"It was long and hard, it's true. For at least five weeks, I believed it would happen.

"There were moments of doubt. I asked myself thousands of questions at the beginning: 'Am I making the right choice? Is it too early?'. But I quickly told myself that I was going to realise one of my dreams, to play in one of the biggest clubs in the world.

"I chose with my family and my agents to go. They managed it without stress and explained all the steps to me, even the not so nice moments when [Leicester] were going to turn on me a little. We stayed calm because they knew how to manage it."

Speaking of the pressure of his

£75m price tag

, the Frenchman added: "It's a recognition of my work but I try not to think about the price too much because it can quickly put a lot of pressure on me. I have to focus on the pleasure of playing football.

"I'm signing for a very big club, that's for sure, a club known all over the world which has in its DNA winning trophies every year. I haven't made it just yet, only my performances on the pitch will decide that."

Being asked why he had to have his medicals in

New York

, Fofana answered:

"I thought I would do it in London but then I found out that it would actually take place in New York. It was a quick trip but I spent a lot of time at the clinic. It was the [Los Angeles] Lakers doctor who supervised all the tests, he looked at everything.

"They examined my ankle, even parts of my body that I can't talk about, to see how I had come back from injury. It lasted more than ten hours, but I guess that's normal given how much they have spent on me. Todd [Boehly] and Behdad [Eghbali] were top. They welcomed me to London and New York like a member of their family."

Centre-back opened up about the impact

had on his decision:

"I came here largely for him. He is a coach that I appreciate, with his management, his way of getting teams to play. There is already a relationship of trust with him.

"Chelsea's system is quite similar to Leicester. He plans to use me in the three-man defence. I can play on the right or in the centre. I'll adapt either way."

Finally being asked why he signed a long seven-year contract with the Blues, the former

defender said:

"I wanted to show my commitment to the club. I also didn't want any money for my image rights and my agents handled all that perfectly, I didn't want to involve myself with those stories.

"These last three years have been a little crazy for me, a lot of upheaval in my life. Saint-Etienne, Leicester and now Chelsea, where I want to stay for the long term."

Follow 

 for the