Skip to content

Leicester City winger Demarai Gray ready to sign new deal

Demarai Gray during the pre-season friendly match at the Pirelli Stadium
Image: Demarai Gray is ready to commit his future to Leicester City

Demarai Gray is ready to sign a new Leicester contract to end lingering speculation over his future.

The 21-year-old has been in contract talks and former boss Craig Shakespeare said he was close to a deal almost two months ago.

But discussions have dragged on, not helped after Shakespeare was sacked earlier this month and replaced by Claude Puel last week, and Leicester rejected bids from Bournemouth and Crystal Palace in the summer.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Leicester 2-0 Everton

Gray starred in Puel's first game on Sunday, scoring the second and playing a huge part in Leicester's opening goal in a 2-0 win over Everton, and he confirmed he is prepared to sign.

"We obviously wanted to see who the new manager was… but I'm happy playing football here and let my representatives deal with that side of it. When they give me the phone call we'll get it sorted.

"It's for my representative and the backroom staff to deal with. All I can do is what I've done [against Everton] and when it comes to getting sorted out we'll get to it."

Live Premier League

The England U21 international has been frustrated with a lack of game time under former managers Claudio Ranieri and Shakespeare since signing from Birmingham in January 2016.

Also See:

Gray made just his 12th league start in 20 months on Sunday, having come off the bench 39 times - more than any other Leicester player since he joined.

"I've always said I'm ready to play and I've waited a long time," he added.

Puel wins on Leicester bow
Puel wins on Leicester bow

Claude Puel started life at Leicester with a 2-0 win over Everton, with the visitors remaining in the relegation zone.

"Hopefully now this can be a start of a run of games for me. It's what I need, to get some confidence and momentum myself and most importantly develop as a player.

"As long as I'm working hard I'm sure I can get that under the boss. It's good for me and Ben [Chilwell] there's faith in the younger players. It's good to have that type of manager behind us. I'm feeling good."

Watch Stoke v Leicester on Saturday. Coverage begins on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event at 11:30am.

Around Sky