DBasia.news – Ryan Bertrand will soon join Leicester City on a free transfer, despite interest from Arsenal, AS Monaco and AC Milan, Goal confirms.
The 31 year old player is expected to join the King Power Stadium on July 1 after Southampton were unable to convince the left-back to renew his contract at the end of the 2020/21 season. Bertrand made 29 appearances for The Saints in the 2020/21 English Premier League season.
Leicester needed more ammunition at full-back after both James Justin and Timothy were injured, with the latter having to miss a chance to feature for Belgium at Euro 2020.
To sign Bertrand, Leicester will have to compete with Arsenal, who made an official bid for the defender in the January winter transfer window.
However, they are reluctant to block the development of Kieran Tierney, who will sign a new five-year contract in the next few days.
After Mikel Arteta failed to convince Bertrand on a free or younger option, Arsenal will continue to look for backup options.
Last season, Arsenal used Granit Xhaka and Cedric Soares at left-back when they were short of options.
Meanwhile, Leicester appears set to continue their pursuit of renewing Youri Tielemans, one of the star players in Brendan Rodgers’ squad that won the FA Cup and qualified for the Europa League.
Leicester are also reportedly interested in signing RB Leipzig striker Patson Daka, Celtic striker Odsonne Edouard and Lille midfielder Boubakary Soumare.