Leicester City have been told which two players they need to sell before signing Stefano Sensi from Inter Milan
The transfer saga between Leicester and Inter Milan over an agreement to sign Stefano Sensi has been a long-running battle.
Inter originally signed the midfielder on loan from Sassuolo in 2019, making that a permanent move for £17.2m the following year.
Now, it looks as though the Italian giants will make a huge loss on their investment.
Sensi’s contract runs out in the summer, so he’ll either depart the Nerazzurri on a free transfer in June, or Leicester will capture him for a fee believed to be in the region of £2.5 million.
Given how much the Foxes spent on their return to the Championship, they need to comply with FFP rules by selling a few of their fringe players.
They have now been told who they need to sell before they can confirm a deal for the Italian maestro.
Leicester need to sell Harry Souttar and Dennis Praet before Stefano Sensi can join
According to well-reputed journalist Nicolo Shira, the Foxes must part ways with Dennis Praet and Harry Souttar in this window.
The two players have been on the fringes of the action all season and now need to depart the King Power so Sensi can complete his move.
Praet and Souttar have made a combined eight appearances in the Championship this term.
While the former has struggled to dislodge one of Wilfred Ndidi, Harry Winks and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, the latter has discovered a similar problem in defence with Wout Faes and Jannik Vestergaard proving to be immovable objects.
Souttar is currently on Asia Cup duty with Australia and that’s one of the reasons why it would be difficult to sell the defensive monster in this window.
Leicester could find it hard to sell Souttar and Praet
It’s difficult to attract attention for players who have rarely played when the January window rolls around.
Ideally, clubs want to sign a talent who has been playing regular football and can hit the ground running straight away.
That isn’t the case for Souttar and Praet, who have become victims of the Foxes’ success, and in turn, struggled to make an impact.
On top of that, the two players command big wages. According to Capology, Souttar earns £40k-a-week and Praet earns £75k-a-week.
It’s those high wages that second-tier clubs can’t afford and why the gap between the Premier League and Championship is widening as the years pass by.
The only resolution for Leicester is to sell Praet and Souttar, but that is proving difficult in a window where most clubs are reluctant to do business.