St Etienne's board chairman Bernard Caiazzo says coach Claude Puel has their full support over his stand regarding Wesley Fofana's future.

The young defender wishes to leave for Leicester City before next month's deadline, but Puel is demanding he stay for the season.

Caiazzo told Telefoot: "I want to say a very important thing on this. Practically in Europe, there is no club where the coach is a member of the management board. With us, Claude Puel is a member of the management board. This means that when the executive board meets each week and talks about marketing, finances, the stadium and not just football and players, the coach assists, listens and gives advice, often authorised elsewhere.

"It's more than a general manager. It is a choice that has been made, a deliberate choice. The coach is the second or third most important person in a club. It is honoring the very profession of coach to give its attributions to coaches who wish it and who are capable of exercising the function."