Leicester have five potential replacements for Harry Maguire in mind – but are not interested in Lewis Dunk.
Maguire is expected to complete his world-record move to Manchester United by Monday, leaving Leicester with £85m to spend on his replacement.
It was previously thought that Brendan Rodgers might trust his existing options, with Wes Morgan, Jonny Evans, Caglar Soyuncu and Filip Benkovic bridging the gap between youth and experience.
But the Foxes plan to spend some of the Maguire windfall to bring in a player capable of filling the void instantly.
James Tarkowski leads the shortlist, with the Burnley centre-half valued at £40m.
Rob Dorsett of Sky Sports says that reported Manchester City target Nathan Ake is another possibility at the same price, with Dunk not being considered.
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He adds that Leicester are ‘wary’ that Maguire’s departure ‘might inflate asking prices’, which makes the Daily Star’s exclusive that Celtic’s Kristoffer Ajer could join a little more believable.
Rodgers deems the 22-year-old ‘a long-term successor’ to Maguire due to his size, and the player ‘favours a move to England over Italy’ despite interest from Milan.
Another cut-price option is Christian Kabasele of Watford, with The Sun linking the Belgian to the King Power Stadium.
But Spanish newspaper Marca believes Leicester are ‘determined’ to sign Djene Dakonam of Getafe. The 27-year-old has a release clause of around £32m, with ‘many Premier League sides enquiring’ as to his availability.