Premier League Leicester City are keen on Strasbourg stars Habib Diallo and Habib Diarra and scouted the Ligue 1 high-flyers during Friday’s 3-3 draw with champions Paris Saint-Germain, as reported by FootMercato.
A run of one win in five games might have dented Strasbourg’s hopes of Champions League qualification.
But, make no mistake, the fact that we are still talking about the Alsace outfit potentially securing a seat at Europe’s top table – with just three games remaining – is a remarkable achievement in itself.
But French football is chock-full of examples of plucky, overachieving teams who became victims of their own success. Think Lille last term, Monaco in 2018, for example.
The phrase ‘victims of their own success’ comes to mind.
Diallo and Diarra are unlikely to be the only members of Julian Stephan’s team attracting interest from elsewhere after all.
According to FootMercato, Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester were in the stands at the Stade de la Meinau as Strasbourg came from behind in a dramatic six-goal thriller against PSG on Friday night. The report adds that the Foxes – who kissed goodbye to their own Champions League hopes a long time ago – have been tracking Senegal international Diallo for ‘some time’.
In fact, the 2021 FA Cup winners were first linked almost three years ago, when the jet-heeled centre-forward was still plying his trade at Metz and valued at £7 millio (Express).
Having scored 12 goals this term, Diallo’s price-tag continues to soar, with Strasbourg likely to demand far more than the £9 million they paid two seasons back.
Leicester City want Ligue 1 striker Habib Diallo
The Foxes are also keen on 18-year-old defensive midfielder Habib Diarra.
The France youth star has started just one Ligue 1 game in 2021/22. But age matters little to a coach like Rodgers, a man who has shown plenty of patience in up-and-coming talents throughout his managerial career.
Diarra, should he move across the Channel, may be tasked with replacing Nampalys Mendy at the King Power Stadium. The long-serving scrapper is out of contract in July.
And though his agent played down a potential move to CSKA Moscow, Mendy did admit that he plans to leave Leicester sooner rather than later.
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