Leicester City won’t be making Yunus Akgun’s loan deal from Galatasaray a permanent one, reports suggest.
The Foxes, despite a recent blip in form, sit at the summit of the Championship table and are well-placed to make an instant return back to the Premier League.
With nine games of the season remaining, City lie three points clear of second-placed Leeds United and four from Ipswich Town.
Plans will already be underway for the summer transfer window, though, due to FFP concerns, it seems they’ll have to be particularly shrewd in the market.
With that said, it looks as though they’ll have to pass up on the opportunity to sign the ‘bright’ Akgun on a permanent deal, despite being ‘happy’ with his performances.
Yunus Akgun set to return to Galatasaray
Akgun made the switch to the East Midlands last summer on a loan deal from Turkish giants Galatasaray.
City inserted a £7.6m option to buy in his contract but news has emerged which suggests that clause won’t be activated.
According to Turkish outlet Aksam, Leicester aren’t willing to outlay that sum of money due to FFP restrictions.
Over the last week, or so, the football club has been a big talking point in the media due to their potential breach of profitability and sustainability rules, which could see them handed a points deduction at the start of next season.
So this summer could consist of player trading, with key assets such as Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall moving on.
Leicester City must be shrewd in transfer market
In years gone by, The Foxes have been able to outlay £20m+ on multiple signings and in 2019, they broke their transfer record to tie Youri Tielemans down to a permanent deal.
Leicester forked out £35m on the Belgian midfielder and a further £30m on Ayoze Perez later in the window.
So if City aren’t prepared to pay £7.6m for Akgun, it indicates they’ll be operating in a very different market than they’re used to this summer.
Of course, a lot will depend on what divisions they’re in, as there is no guarantee that they’ll be a Premier League club next season.
Either way, Leicester will have to be shrewd in their business and scouting overseas could be the best way forward.
During Steve Walsh’s (former scout) tenure at the club, City were excellent at finding hidden gems for relatively low transfer fees, namely Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and N’Golo Kante.
So perhaps returning to that model will be the best way to combat their FFP restrictions.