Leicester City are close to completing the signing of French midfielder Nampalys Mendy from Nice, despite an eleventh-hour bid from West Ham.
The Foxes have been tracking Mendy for some time and had even attempted to sign the Frenchman last summer, but could not agree a fee with Nice. According to L’Equipe, Claudio Ranieri is set to finally sign his man as Mendy is ‘close to an agreement’ with the Premier League champions.
The 23-year-old is a player in a similar mold to Leicester’s midfield anchor N’Golo Kante and will be an excellent like-for-like replacement, should Kante complete a move to one of his many suitors.
West Ham submitted an eleventh-hour bid in the region of €15million for Mendy yesterday and were hopeful of persuading him to snub a move to Leicester in favour of East London, to join up with fellow countryman Dimitry Payet.
It is thought Claudio Ranieri played a major part in persuading Mendy to join the Foxes, having coached him during his time at AS Monaco, though I’m sure the lure of Champions League football and the latest addition to in their cabinet may have played a part.
