Following the arrivals of Ron-Robert Zieler and Luis Hernandez at Leicester City, Claudio Ranieri has further strengthened his squad with the recruitment of Nampalys Mendy.
Previously of OGC Nice, the French international midfielder has moved to the King Power Stadium for a reported club-record fee and in the process, penned a four-year deal, keeping him at the club until 2020.
Money well spent?
Having represented the likes of AS Monaco and OGC Nice in his relatively short career in his native France, Mendy has already managed to build himself quite a reputation.
Making over 200 appearances so far since his professional debut in August 2010, the former France U-21 international has become known as a tenacious and combative central-midfielder, and has even drawn comparisons to former French stalwart, Claude Makelele.
As a matter of fact, in more recent times, the 24-year-old was able to captain Nice to a fourth-place finish in the league and secure a place in the Europa League group stages for Les Aiglons.
Constantly utilising his electric pace and fantastic ability to spot a pass, Mendy has attracted some considerable attention in the past as a result of his outstanding performances under former manager, Claude Puel (who has recently just taken over at Premier League rivals, Southampton), so Leicester will be delighted that they've been able to secure his signature.
Prime target
In fact, the Foxes have apparently been tracking Mendy for some time. With Claudio Ranieri managing the midfielder in his time as Monaco boss, the Italian has reportedly held an interest since taking over in July 2015. As a matter of fact, there were reports last summer that the club were making a move but just failed to agree a fee, instead signing N'Golo Kante.
However, with both talented Frenchman now on the books at the King Power Stadium (albeit possibly not for long with the reports surrounding Kante), the Foxes now have an embarrasment of riches in the midfield department ahead of their upcoming debut Champions League campaign.
With the likes of Danny Drinkwater, Andy King, Matty James, Gokhan Inler and even Daniel Amartey all able to provide considerable competition, it looks quite a task to get into this Leicester City team next season. Nonetheless, their latest signing will surely be confident going into the new campaign considering how much the Foxes had to fork out to secure his services.