Leicester City Dealt £17 Million Blow Ahead Of January

Prior to the January transfer window, Leicester City lost out on Sao Paulo defender Lucas Beraldo, who is now expected to sign with Paris Saint-Germain.

ESPN initially reported that the Brazilian defender was nearing a £17 million transfer to the Ligue 1 winners. Transfer analyst Fabrizio Romano confirmed this, stating that the 20-year-old has been scheduled for a medical this week in order to finalize the deal.

It was previously claimed in Brazil that Leicester City had been tracking the centre-back ahead of the January transfer window and that the Foxes were preparing a £17 million bid for the youngster.

Additionally, it was revealed by UOL a little more than a week ago that the previous Premier League winners were the front-runners to recruit Beraldo because Enzo Maresca is eager to strengthen his defensive unit when the winter transfer window begins.

Harry Souttar’s hazy future at King Power Stadium was another reason a deal made sense; Maresca was prepared to let the Australia international go as soon as he received a competitive offer.

However, PSG made an offer that was equal to what Leicester was willing to do, seemingly out of the blue, and won the race for the young center-half. The player is expected to complete his move to the Parc Des Princes very soon.

Joe Worrall, a star player for Nottingham Forest, has been linked to a move to Leicester; however, it is unknown how Steve Cooper’s resignation from the City Ground will impact the likelihood of this deal happening. Maresca will now need to start looking at other options.

Author’s Perspective

For a spell, Leicester City and Zenit St Petersburg of the Russian Premier League appeared to be the teams most serious about signing Beraldo, and it appeared as though Leicester City would prevail in the chase for the player.

But it was never going to be realistic for Leicester to persuade the star to transfer to the Championship when a team like PSG intensified their pursuit of him.