Leicester and Real Betis have reached an agreement for the transfer of holding midfielder William Carvalho, according to a new report in Spain.
The 28-year-old defensive midfielder joined Betis from Sporting CP in 2018, moving to La Liga after cancelling his contract in his native Portugal following an attack on the club's training ground from frustrated supporters.
To date, he's made 43 appearances in La Liga, and has already courted interest from the Premier League in the past year or so. Now, according to local publication Estadio Deportivo, Carvalho 'will sign' on the dotted line at King Power Stadium this summer, leaving Spain after just two seasons.
Estadio's report suggests that Carvalho will cost the Foxes around £22.5m, with 25% of the fee going to his former club as part of a prior agreement.
Were he to join, Carvalho would add valuable experience to Leicester's dressing room, having been part of Portugal's glorious European Championship campaign in 2016.
The Foxes would welcome his know-how of winning at the highest level, with the club's fledgling Champions League qualification hopes in danger of falling by the wayside unless they can turn things around before the end of the season.
Recent performances have suggested that further depth to their squad is required, and the burden on Wilfred Ndidi to hold things together in midfield was abundantly clear when he was out of action for a number of matches.
Foxes manager Brendan Rodgers does have Hamza Choudhury and Nampalys Mendy to call upon as replacements, but neither are of the quality of some of Leicester's more attacking the threats - the likes of Youri Tielemans, James Maddison and Jamie Vardy for example.
Carvalho's price - even in a COVID-19 affected transfer market - would represent good value for money, if the report is indeed true, and could provide Leicester with the tools to back up their strong season with a successful 2020/21 campaign.
Source : 90min