Leicester City are not doing well in the 2024/25 summer transfer window with their latest oppressors being AS Roma from the Italian Serie A.
The Foxes, who returned to the Premier League at the first time of asking and as EFL Champions of the 2023/24 season, have not been able to add many new talents to their ranks. They have also lost Enzo Maresca and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to Chelsea and let go of a couple of players including long-term servants Marc Albrighton and Kelechi Iheanacho.
They have only been able to secure the services of Bobby De Cordova-Reid on a free while activating the buy-clause for Issahaku Abdul Fatawu after his impressive loan stint with them last season.
Their target to further strengthen their attack, Argentine attacking midfielder Matías Soulé, is now closer to Roma than he is to them. West Ham United were even reported to have tabled an offer for the versatile player, which has already been rejected by Juventus. It is understood that the Old Lady want to use the funds they will get for Soulé to go after their top targets, Manchester United’s Jadon Sancho and Atalanta midfielder Teun Koopmeiners. This makes Leicester’s position in the race for the youngster even more irrelevant as long as they are not willing to pay what Juventus want.
The Foxes were reported to have tabled a £21 million offer for Soulé but Roma are willing to match Juventus’ £25.2 million offer by paying the same amount that Leicester are offering while matching up the Old Lady’s valuations for the player with add-ons. West Ham’s offer is unknown but it is believed to be a bit closer to what Juventus want, though the Old Lady are holding off for their exact valuation to come in as a bid from any of the interested parties.
The Foxes could get one over West Ham, however, as they are currently in the lead for Reiss Nelson’s signature.
The Arsenal man looks set to leave the Emirates after years of being on the fringes of the first XI and West Ham were believed to be in prime position for the player. However, when they turned their attention to Soulé, the Foxes swiped their post to lead the talks with Arsenal over Nelson’s transfer. It could be their transfer strategy to use their interest in Soulé to distract West Ham and get Nelson, but that is speculation at best.
Nelson also has history with Steve Cooper, which could make the deal for the winger a lot easier to pull off for the Foxes. The transfer fee is unknown but sources claim that the Foxes are closer to signing Nelson, despite the winger already discussing with West Ham over the move.
