Leicester City are set to host Jannik Vestergaard for a medical on Thursday after agreeing to personal terms with the Southampton defender, according to The Athletic.
Brendan Rodgers’ King Power Stadium natives ramped up their pursuit of Vestergaard in the wake of Wesley Fofana’s horror injury. The Foxes defender fractured his right fibula in a pre-season friendly with Villarreal, and is likely to be sidelined into the new year.
Leicester have long admired what Vestergaard can offer and tried to sign the Southampton enforcer in January 2020, in fact. Rodgers is now finally getting his man after agreeing a £15m fee with the Saints on Wednesday.
Southampton have now cleared Vestergaard to travel to Leicester on Thursday for his medical, with personal terms already agreed. The Foxes moved quickly for the 29-year-old as they were aware of rival interest from West Ham, Wolves and Tottenham Hotspur.
Two foreign sides also wanted Vestergaard, as the Denmark international is in the final year of his £60,000-per-week Saints contract. But Leicester won the race with an offer of £14m plus £1m in add-ons, as The Athletic reported on Wednesday.
Rodgers now has his centre-back solution to pair with Caglar Soyuncu, having questioned Filip Benkovic’s viability to replace Fofana. The Foxes are also still waiting on Jonny Evans to overcome a foot injury that is likely to keep him out until the September internationals.
Leicester set to sign Southampton ‘role model’ Vestergaard
Leicester deserve a lot of praise for reacting immediately to Fofana’s injury by agreeing a deal with Southampton for Vestergaard. The 29-cap international was highly sought-after among their Premier League rivals, but is now heading for the King Power Stadium.
Vestergaard also helped Southampton to keep six clean sheets over his 30 Premier League appearances last season, starting 29. Proving himself to be a formidable presence under Ralph Hasenhuttl, with great composure and a quarterback-esque passing range.
Hasenhuttl further lauded Leicester-bound Vestergaard last season, with the Southampton boss stating, via Hampshire Live: “He is a role model. He is a role model for never giving up and for developing your game.
“I am very happy to see a performance like this at the moment. It shows more and more the qualities we need at the moment. He is very calm and has good decision making and is definitely getting better and better.”
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