Jannik Vestergaard, 29, made 32 appearances in all competitions for Southampton last season; Denmark centre-back was previously subject of interest from Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers in January 2020
Thursday 12 August 2021 16:17, UK
Southampton have accepted an offer from Leicester for defender Jannik Vestergaard.
One source has told Sky Sports News the fee is £15m, while a second source has suggested Leicester will pay less than that for the 29-year-old.
Vestergaard is free to travel to Leicester to undergo a medical and discuss personal terms.
The Foxes want to sign a centre-back after Wesley Fofana was ruled out for a significant period with a broken leg sustained in a pre-season friendly against Villarreal last week.
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers tried to sign Vestergaard, who has one year left on his contract at St Mary's, in January 2020.
Rodgers hopes a deal can be completed in time for Vestergaard to be in contention to play against Wolves on Saturday.
"Without going into detail before Jannik is confirmed as a signing, it was pretty clear we needed a centre-half," said Rodgers. "That's probably what sparked the interest. We were very light in the area.
"It's a great tribute to the club that we could get our work done very quickly and see if we could sign a player of quality. Once we have that done, I can speak more on it."
Vestergaard joined Southampton from Borussia Monchengladbach for a fee believed to be £18m in July 2018.
He made 32 appearances under Ralph Hasenhuttl last season as Southampton finished 15th in the Premier League and played in all six of Denmark's games as they reached the semi-finals of Euro 2020.
Speaking on Thursday, Hasenhuttl said he expects Vestergaard to complete the formalities of his move to Leicester soon.
"He is doing the medicals check, and when that is done, then the deal is done," Hasenhuttl said as he prepared for Saturday's trip to Everton.
"He will go to Leicester, then it is for us to replace him and this is what we will do in the future."
Hasenhuttl, who also saw striker Danny Ings join Aston Villa, added: "We have lost Jannik now, so in the centre-back position we are not super strong with the numbers, but the rest of the squad seems to be quite balanced."
