Leicester City transfer news roundup: January 2017

The January transfer window is open, which means two things in English football:

1. Clubs are now free to buy and sell players
2. All news outlets divert power to the Ridiculous Transfer Rumour Machine (RTRM)

The RTRM is so powerful that by January 5th it’s already necessary to round-up all the Leicester City based rumours (and some actual news!) into one handy place.

Arrivals:

Wilfred Ndidi - this one’s the real news as Shane told us on Tuesday. The club have today announced that his work permit has been granted and he could be in line to make a debut on Saturday against Everton in the FA Cup.

Francesco Acerbi - don’t get your hopes up here. It appears we did make an offer for Sassuolo’s Italy-capped CB, but they’ve made it clear they aren't selling in January.

Roma asked about Pellegrini and Defrel, Leicester wanted Acerbi - to all we have said no - the Serie A side have made their position clear

Michael Keane - Leicester are clearly in the market for a CB and they showed strong interest in Keane over the summer. Several papers have reported more recently that Leicester are still interested, but there’s no actual news on this one.

Robbie Brady - this seems like one of those that keeps getting brought up just because it has before. With Norwich looking unlikely for promotion, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him move, and as many as 6 clubs have reported interest. That includes Leicester, but they’ve been linked with him plenty of times and never made so much as an offer.

Tamas Kadar - reports in Poland (where he plays) have suggested that Leicester have interest in the Hungarian defender. This is very unlikely because a) he’s a LB and we have Fuchs and Chilwell locked down for 3 more years and b) the other side mentioned are Birmingham City, 11th in the Championship. It would certainly be an odd move.

Departures:

Leo Ulloa - the big Argentine would prefer to play more than he does for the Foxes and there was apparently interest at the last transfer deadline. However, Ranieri is not willing to sell Ulloa with Slimani away at the African Cup of Nations, so there won't be any movement here.

He’s our player. I believe in him - Claudio won't budge

Jeff Schlupp - another who was rumoured to leave towards the end of the summer, but nothing ever materialised. West Brom were the apparent suitors then and retain interest now, but there have been no offers. After a brief spell of semi regular appearances, Schlupp has disappeared again and his time at the club certainly looks like it will run out soon, although that’s not the message the manager is giving.

Demarai Gray - former head of recruitment Steve Walsh is now Director of Football at Everton. As such, we have to have a rumour of at least one of his signings moving to the Toffees every window, that’s the rule. I wouldn’t lose sleep over this one. If Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea etc start getting mentioned (alongside huge sums of money, mind) then I’ll start to pay attention, but not until.

Bartosz Kapustka - yeah, while we’re doing the silly ones. Some of the outlets suggesting we’re interested in Brady say Kapustka would be on the way out in that scenario. Unless they mean on loan, I doubt it.