Leicester City sign Molla Wagué on loan from Udinese

Leicester City have announced the transfer deadline day signing of Malian centre back Molla Wagué (pronounced WAG-AY-EE, apparently) from Udinese. After making 20 Serie A appearances last year, Wagué has fallen out of favour and played only six games this season. He has most recently been representing Mali in the AFCON, where they went out after the group stages.

A big, strong CB, who likes aerial battle rather than playing a ball on the floor, he should certainly fit right in with our back line.

After the departure of Luis Hernandez, the Foxes were looking pretty thin at the back. So much so that some rumours suggested they were willing to spend £18m on a Sunderland player. Yes, that Sunderland.

In that context then, this is a pretty good deal. It’s a loan, so it’s not breaking the bank and if he doesn’t perform (or even play) it’s no big deal. If he does both, we’d be in a strong position to push for a permanent transfer in the summer, as we did with Robert Huth. This might seem like a desperation move, but the 25 year old was first linked with the club in the summer of 2014, so he’s been on the radar before.

We shouldn’t expect this deal to be as influential as Huth was, of course, but it provides absolutely necessary cover in the term, with minimal cost.

Wagué arrived in Leicester for his medical this morning, but there hasn’t been any talk of others coming in after, so I’d expect this to be business over for the window. You can keep up with any late deals that do come through here.

Ndidi and Wagué in, Schlupp and Hernandez out. Quiet but successful, for me. How would you rate our January transfer window?