Leicester City snubbed as transfer saga nears end

Juventus winger Matias Soule has decided he does not want to move to the Premier League with City nor West Ham and is focused on continuing his career in Serie A with Roma

Leicester City’s pursuit of Matias Soule looks to be all but over with the Juventus attacker said to be snubbing a move to the Premier League.

City have been prominently linked with Soule for the past couple of weeks, vying with Roma for his signature. But while it initially seemed the transfer battle would be won by whichever club met Juventus’s asking price, the 21-year-old’s own preference looks set to be decisive.

It was previously reported that, while Soule was leaning towards a prolonged stay in Serie A, he was not against a move to City. But on Wednesday night, Gazzetta dello Sport reported Soule has definitively decided Roma is his next destination and that he has no desire to move to City nor West Ham, the other Premier League side credited with interest.

The Italian capital is just an hour from where Soule spent last season, on loan at Frosinone, while he has friends already at Roma in fellow Argentinians Paulo Dybala and Leandro Paredes. It’s said he feels it would be easier to integrate into life at Roma than it would be to do so in England.

All that is needed is an agreement between Roma and Juventus and the capital club have now submitted a bid of €25m plus €5m in bonuses. That’s the same offer City were reported to have made.

For City, their attention now turns to other targets. Among wingers, they have been linked with AC Milan’s Belgian international Alexis Saelemaekers, while in attacking midfield they have been credited with interest in Celtic’s Matt O’Riley.