Leicester City’s transfer history is one of the more fascinating case studies in recent Premier League history.
The Foxes were once regarded as the masters of the transfer market in England, with Leicester using their resources to pull off some of the best bargain signings in the past few years in the likes of N’Golo Kante, James Maddison and Harry Maguire.
Despite some huge success stories in the transfer market, there have been some real misses from Leicester as well, a pattern that has somewhat led to the King Power Stadium side being where they are in the Premier League under Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Yet nothing can compete to the player who Leicester missed out on signing by 14 seconds, who is now plying his trade in the Middle East.
Adrien Silva now playing in the UAE eight years after Leicester transfer drama
Adrien Silva is a name that conjures up mixed feelings amongst Leicester fans, with the former Portugese international infamously mere seconds away from joining the East Midlands side as documents relating to the transfer did not reach FIFA until 14 seconds after the transfer window closed.
Signing for £22m as reported by BBC Sport, Silva had to wait until the January transfer window of 2018 to make his move to Leicester official, to which the midfielder went on to endure one of the most forgetful spells of any player at the King Power Stadium.
Just one year after officially joining, Silva was loaned out to AS Monaco for 18 months, where the former Sporting Lisbon maestro began a football odyssey of sorts that took the midfielder to Sampdoria on a permanent transfer from Leicester and then Al Wahda in the UAE and then back to Portugal with Rio Ave.
Now in 2025, Silva is back in the UAE with United FC, with the now-35-year-old midfielder enjoying out the final days of his career in the Middle East playing alongside the likes of Nabil Fekir, Sardar Azmoun and Paco Alcacer.
What other former Leicester players are now in the Middle East?
The Middle East has become something of a hot bed for talent in the last few years with countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE flexing their financial muscle to help grow football by attracting some huge names,
And it’s perhaps no real surprise that Silva is not the only former Leicester player to be currently plying their trade in this new frontier of football, with Riyad Mahrez, N’Golo Kante and Demarie Gray all currently in Saudi Arabia.
WIth Leicester’s squad set for a big overhaul in the summer, it would not be a surprise to see players from the current squad also head out to the Middle East, especially if the Foxes can recruit a decent fee for some names.