Leicester City in talks to sign Southampton's Jannik Vestergaard
By Max Parsons
Leicester City are in talks with Southampton over the signing of 29-year-old central defender Jannik Vestergaard.
The Foxes are very keen to add centre-back cover to their ranks before their Premier League season starts on Saturday due to injuries to Wesley Fofana and Jonny Evans.
It was previously reported that Evans would be back in action by September at the earliest, while 20-year-old Fofana confirmed he had suffered a fractured fibula in Leicester's pre-season friendly win over Villarreal last week, keeping him sidelined for the rest of the year.
The shortage of options has left Brendan Rodgers needing new additions at the back, having lined up natural midfielder Daniel Amartey alongside Caglar Soyuncu in the Community Shield against Manchester City.
As a result, the Telegraph report that the Foxes are in talks with the Saints over the transfer of Denmark international Vestergaard. The 29-year-old is among Rodgers' top targets, with former Liverpool loanee Ozan Kabak and Bologna's Takehiru Tomiyasu also linked.
Vestergaard has impressed since his arrival from Borussia Monchengladbach three years ago, building a reputation of a tough, strong defender who is comfortable on the ball. The 29-year-old featured for Denmark at Euro 2020, putting in brilliant displays as he played in every one of his country's games leading to their semi-final appearance.
With under one year remaining on his current Southampton contract, there has been interest from elsewhere. West Ham are another club involved, although their first choice is Fiorentina's Serbian defender Nikola Milenkovic. Spurs have also been linked with a move for Vestergaard in the past.
Ralph Hassenhuttl will obviously want to have one of his regular defenders remain on the south coast, but with his deal running out next summer, the club may be forced to sell Vestergaard this window to recoup a fee.