Leicester complete £17m Boubakary Soumare transfer from Lille after seeing off competition from Man Utd

BRENDAN RODGERS has made his second signing of the week by landing French Under-21 midfielder Boubakary Soumare from French champions Lille.

The Foxes boss snapped up the highly-rated 22-year-old for a bargain £17million as Soumare entered the final year of his Lille contract. 

Leicester beat off competition from Manchester United, Aston Villa, Everton, Leeds, Newcastle, Wolves and Italian giants AC Milan to secure one of the hottest young midfielders in Europe on a five-year-contract.

Soumare, who has made over a century of appearances for Lille, says he can't wait to make his debut for the FA Cup winners.

He told : “I’m really proud to come to the Premier League and a big club like Leicester. 

"It’s going to really help me to develop my game and progress as a player, so I feel it is the right step for me.

“Leicester is a very ambitious Club. When they spoke to me about their plans and what they wanted from me, I knew straight away I wanted to come. 

"I really am so proud and honoured to be here and I will give my all for the team and Club to make everyone happy.”

The industrious midfielder started his career with Paris FC and spent five years with the club before joining the PSG Youth Academy in 2011.

After six seasons with PSG, he moved to Lille in 2017, signing a three-year deal and making his professional debut in a 3-0 win over Metz in November of the same year.

In total, he made 112 appearances in all competitions for Lille, culminating in last season’s Ligue 1 triumph – the club’s first since 2011 and the fourth in their history.

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Soumare will now team up with his French Under-21 buddy Wesley Fofana at the King Power.

The midfielder fits Rodgers' blueprint to add proven winners to his Leicester squad, who narrowly missed out on fourth place and the Champions' League on the final day of last season for the second time in a year.

The powerhouse French kid will considerably beef up his midfield and add his winning-mentality to last season's Wembley winners - just like Rodgers' other summer signing Patson Daka who was a habitual winner with Austrian champs RB Salzburg. 

Former Southampton and England left-back Ryan Bertrand will be the next new arrival at the King Power when the free agent puts pen to paper on his deal, after agreeing terms with the Foxes this week. 

Meanwhile, Academy graduate Josh Knight has joined Peterborough United on a three year deal to end his 15-year association with the club he joined as an eight-year-old.

The 23-year-old made eight appearances for the Posh in 2018/19 and spent a second spell on loan with them in 2019/20, helping them to a seventh-place finish in League 1.

Knight spent last season on loan at Wycombe Wanderers where he was named Player of the Season and Player’s Player of the Season, prompting Posh to snap him up on a three-year-deal.

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