Leicester agree €40m transfer of Saint-Etienne youngster

Leicester have agreed a deal in principle with Saint-Etienne to sign highly rated centre-back Wesley Fofana for €40m, claims Le Progres.

Saint-Etienne have already turned down three offers from Leicester for the 19-year-old and Claude Puel was hoping to keep the teenager from the cluthes of his former club.

However, Leicester have now made a breakthrough in talks with their French counterparts, with the Foxes due to pay €35m (£32m) plus €5m (£4.6m) in bonuses.

Fofana, who was also linked with a move to West Ham, has been pushing to join Leicester since Brendan Rodgers' side lodged their first bid.

Leicester have been on the market for a new centre-back since selling Harry Maguire to Manchester United 12 months ago.

With Wes Morgan and Jonny Evans both due to turn 37 and 33 in January, respectively, Leicester have made signing a new centre-back a priority this summer.

Reports emerged earlier this week suggesting Leicester were close to landing James Tarkowski from Burnley for a similiar fee but that would now appear off the table with Fofana on the verge of moving to the King Power Stadium.

Fofana, who only has 17 career league starts, will become the second youngster to leave Saint-Etienne this summer following William Saliba's high profile switch to Arsenal.

Since the beginning of last season, Saint-Etienne have a far superior win ratio in Ligue 1 when Fofana has started (43.8%) compared to when he hasn't featured from the off (23.5%).