According to the latest reports, Premier League champions Leicester City will be signing Nigeria international Wilfred Ndidi in the winter transfer window. Negotiations are ongoing but Leicester City are confident of signing the 19-year-old in the New Year in a deal which could rise to £15 million after instalments.
Claudio Ranieri’s Foxes suffered a huge blow in the summer losing N’Golo Kante to Chelsea and the move for Ndidi will add to their diminished midfield. Leicester’s recruitment has been under scrutiny this season after a number of signings failed to hit the ground running, yet Ndidi would represent a serious coup.
Ranieri is also likely to target a creative midfielder and a winger to strengthen his squad, as his side is currently only two points above the bottom three. The 19-year-old typically plays as a central midfielder but can fill in at centre-back as well. He attracted the attention of Manchester United’s scouts at a youth tournament in 2013.
Within the next two years, he joined Belgian side K.R.C Genk and has since then played in the Belgian Pro League. Since his arrival at the club from Lagos club Nath Boys, the defensive midfielder has made 30 appearances for the Belgian side scoring two goals.
Leicester has suffered a lot this season with the lack of cover in the defensive midfield region since their replacement for Kante, Nampalys Mendy was sidelined due to an injury. The poor run of form in the league has also given rise to some criticisms regarding the Foxes summer transfers.
Ranieri splurged around £60m in the summer on new signings, including Islam Slimani, Papy Mendy and Ahmed Musa. However, only Slimani has managed to make some sort of impact scoring four goals in seven Premier League appearances – while the rest are still adapting.
It is now clear that there must be some quality reinforcements brought into the King Power when the transfer window opens in a few days. Ranieri is also looking to make space and funds available by selling some players. Leonardo Ulloa is one who can leave the club in the winter.
While Ndidi’s arrival looks all but certain at the moment, there would be pressure on him to perform straight away when he will be needed considering the others have failed to do the same since their arrival. With Nampalys Mendy injured and Daniel Amartey looking not fit to play at the level required in the premier division fans would hope the 6ft 2 in Ndidi not end up as one of those failed signings, just like the 19 year old Kaputska, who is also 19 and is yet to make a single appearance for Leicester City since his move from Cracovia in the summer.
