Leicester City are reportedly interested in signing Monaco winger Rachid Ghezzal.
According to L'Equipe, the Foxes have held talks with the French outfit over their wideman potentially becoming a replacement for Riyad Mahrez at the King Power Stadium after the former PFA Player of the Year left the club for Manchester City.
'Concrete talks'
The publication continues by stating that Claude Puel's men have entered 'concrete' negotiations with Monaco and that a deal could potentially be rubber-stamped by the end of the weekend. A fee of around £4million has been touted for the signature of the Algerian international.
Ghezzal, 26, has also been linked with Watford after the Hornets sold Richarlison to Premier League rivals Everton earlier in the window. He still has three years left to run on his contract at the Stade Louis II.
Like for like?
Should Ghezzal arrive at the King Power Stadium, he would surely slot into the squad as a replacement for Mahrez. Predominantly a right-sided midfielder, he is comfortable playing on both flanks.
Starting his career at Olympique Lyonnais, he only moved to Monaco last summer on a free transfer. However, he struggled to settle into Leonardo Jardim's team, scoring only twice in 26 appearances.
In his time in France, he has made 154 appearances in all competitions, including the UEFA Champions League, scoring 16 goals and providing 24 assists.
Following the departure of Mahrez, Leicester have been linked with numerous forwards including Adnan Januzaj, Patrick Roberts and Quincy Promes. They currently only have Marc Albrighton, Demarai Gray and Fousseni Diabate as senior options out wide.
He could potentially become Leicester's fifth acquisition of the summer following the arrivals of Ricardo Pereira, James Maddison, Jonny Evans and Danny Ward from FC Porto, Norwich City, West Bromwich Albion and Liverpool respectively.