Merih Demiral in action for Turkey. (Getty Images)
According to The Sun, Leicester City have joined the race to sign Juventus defender Merih Demiral, who is keen to complete a move away from Turin in search of more regular minutes.
The 21-year-old had previously been linked with Arsenal, Man United and Tottenham but the Foxes have now entered the race to try and hijack a deal to bring the Turk to the King Power Stadium in January. (h/t Sun)
Demiral, who joined Juventus for a fee of £16million this past summer from fellow Serie A outfit Sassuolo, has only started two league games for the Old Lady so far this season, with manager Maurizio Sarri prepared to stick with his regular centre-back pairing of Matthijs de Ligt and Leonardo Bonucci.
Despite that, however, the Turk’s market value has rocketed to £25million just six months after his move to Juventus and Leicester City have identified him as a potential target ahead of the mid-season trading period. (h/t Sun)
Demiral made a name for himself at Alanyaspor in his homeland before moving across the continent to join Sassuolo on loan in January 2019, with an obligation to buy included in the deal.
The centre-back started 14 games in the Serie A during the second half of the previous campaign and impressed with a string of consistent displays, which prompted Juventus to make a move for him immediately after the Turk’s stay at Sassuolo became permanent.
The 12-cap Turkish international has found regular minutes difficult to come by during his stint at Turin so far but an escape route looks very much on the cards for Demiral, with Leicester City now joining Arsenal and Spurs in his list of admirers.
To that end, Leicester are very much in a position of strength as far as the race for a top-four finish in the Premier League is concerned.
The Foxes are currently not crying out for a new centre-back but Merih Demiral looks like a fine young talent in the right age bracket who could possibly have a big part to play moving forward.
Demiral, 21, is still young for a centre-back but his talent and potential have been there for everybody to see. He could well be a handy replacement for veteran Wes Morgan, who is expected to leave the club when his contract expires at the end of the ongoing campaign.
Demiral racked up some impressive numbers at Sassuolo in the previous campaign. As per whoscored, the 21-year-old managed a pass success rate of 87%, including an average of 1.7 tackles, 1.4 interceptions, 5.6 clearances and 3.9 aerial duels per game in the Serie A the last term.
Add to that his towering 6ft. 3-inch frame and it is easy to see why Merih Demiral has all the raw materials to excel in the rough-and-tough nature of the English game.
The present centre-back pairing of Caglar Soyuncu and Jonny Evans has worked wonders for Leicester this season. With Wes Morgan’s departure in 2020 imminent and Rodgers not showing any kind of trust in Filip Benkovic, however, the door is open for another exciting young defender to come in.
Having said that, Leicester City beating off competition for Merih Demiral in January or next summer could pay off handsomely for their long-term plans moving forward under Rodgers.