Leicester track latest Leeds star deemed Premier League ready
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Despite being plunged into one crisis after another since losing their Premier League status 12 years ago – with a stint in League One and the imposition of dreadful chairman Massimo Cellino among the lowlights – Leeds continue to produce players deemed suitable for top-flight action.
The fallen Yorkshire giants have banked rumoured fees totalling £10m from the sales of Sam Byram and Lewis Cook to West Ham and Bournemouth respectively over the past couple of transfer windows, with Leicester now thought to be in for 23-year-old left-back Charlie Taylor.
Incidentally, all three grew up in York, suggesting the former capital of Britain is something of a northern hotbed of football talent these days.
Having played just 14 times in 18 months on loan at Bradford, York and Inverness Caledonian Thistle between January 2012 and May 2013, Taylor struck gold with a temporary switch to Fleetwood Town the following October, for what was supposed to be just a month initially.
Turning out 32 times en route to Wembley victory over Burton Albion in the League Two playoffs, the former England U19’s impressive form on the Fylde coast led Cellino to seal his future before the final, with Taylor making 63 Championship appearances for Leeds since.
However, the Italian ‘manager eater’ only managed to tie his prized asset down until 2017, meaning Taylor will be a free agent next summer and could sign a pre-contract agreement when the transfer window reopens in January.
The Premier League champions are thought to top the list of suitors for the left-back, despite lauded incumbent Christian Fuchs recently re-signing until 2019 and youngster Ben Chillwell penning a new five-year deal over the summer.
Leicester are 40/1 11th-favourites to win the Champions League this season – behind England’s other three entrants – despite taking nine group stage points from nine so far.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
