Since Leicester City manager Claude Puel joined the club in October, he has been a proud advocate of youth development. He has already shown this by giving game time to Hamza Choudhury and Harvey Barnes, while fellow youngster George Thomas has been named on the bench.

But Puel could look to recruit more talent for the club's under-23 side this summer. Here's a look at five names he could add to the Foxes' ranks:

Fousseni Diabaté

While this almost looks like a done deal, it hasn't been confirmed by Leicester City just yet. 

Reports in French media state that Diabaté has signed a four-and-a-half year deal with the Foxes. 

Diabaté joins from Ligue 2 outfit Gazélec Ajaccio - where he is the team mate of Leicester boss Claude Puel's eldest son Grégoire. 22-year-old Diabaté is a versatile attacking player, capable of playing out wide or as a striker. He has attracted the attention of Rennes and Wolfsburg, who have both lost out to Leicester City this month.

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George Hirst

Leicester City are long-term admirers of 18-year-old Hirst, who is the son of former Sheffield Wednesday and England striker David Hirst.

Hirst Jnr is also a striker. He plays for Sheffield Wednesday, the team his father represented over 300 times, and was one of the stars of last summer's Toulon Tournament in France - alongside Leicester midfielder Harvey Barnes - and attracted plenty of attention with his displays.

Leicester have tried to sign Hirst in previous windows, failing with two bids believed to be in the region of £2,000,000.

Jordan Ponticelli

Ponticelli is a 19-year-old striker who Coventry City signed from the Strachan Football Foundation - based in Warwickshire - back in 2016. 

The striker had trials at several clubs, including Stoke City, before signing for Stoke City. He caught the eyes with his prolific goalscoring record for the Sky Blues' under-18 side and has broken into the first-team set-up at the Ricoh Arena under Mark Robins' watchful eye.

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Kyle Scott

Kyle Scott is perhaps the most high-profile name on this list.

The creative central midfielder, 20, is currently on the books of Chelsea but it has widely been reported that he has hit a stalemate with Chelsea over contract talks.

According to The Sun, Leicester City and Huddersfield Town are monitoring Scott's situation and the Blues youngster could make a move this month.

While Scott is yet to make his first-team debut for Chelsea, he has featured in the EFL Trophy this season. He has also previously been named in Chelsea's UEFA Champions League squad, although did not make an appearance in the competition.

Serhat Tasdemir

17-year-old Serhat Tasdemir has been closely followed by scouts from Stoke City and Leicester City after breaking into the first team at National League side AFC Fylde

Tasdemir has played 14 times in the National League so far this season, scoring twice and making one assist.

The young midfielder signed a two-year professional contract back in September, however Leicester scouts have been highly impressed by what they have seen so far.

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