Leicester looking to swoop in on Rennes’ teen superstar
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With Champions League football to look forward to, heading to Leicester has never looked more attractive for Europe’s finest players, and it seems Claudio Ranieri is keen to get stuck in to the transfer market this summer.
The sensational Foxes are within five matches of a famous Premier League title, and they’re all but assured a place in the group stages of Europe’s biggest club competition next season.
With a financial windfall heading their way this summer, Ranieri is set for a busy off-season, starting with Rennes’ 18-year-old wonderkid Ousmane Dembele.
The teenager has been a revelation this season, netting 12 times in 20 Ligue 1 appearances to be Rennes’ top scorer this term, having only made his first-team debut in November.
With five games remaining, the club are in fifth place and within touching distance of the Champions League places, so a lot could hinge on where they end up come the end of the season.
Various reports have linked many of Europe’s biggest teams with the player, including both Manchester teams, Liverpool and Barcelona, but this week it has emerged that Leicester are ready to get in on the chase too.
Currently valued at just £2.25m by transfermarkt.co.uk, Dembele has a contract with Rennes until 2018, but any agreed fee is likely to become several times that amount.
Rennes are reported to want £16m for the forward, who is capable on either flank, and with Premier League sides set to enjoy enhanced TV money, a bidding war could take that fee to nearly £30m.
The Foxes are preparing to mix it with the big boys on the pitch next season, and it looks like they’re going to do the same off it this summer too.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
