Dennis Praet: New Leicester City Star Reveals He Rejected Arsenal as a Teenager

22 September 2019 18:08

​Leicester City's summer signing Dennis Praet has revealed that he had the opportunity to sign with Premier League giants Arsenal when he was just 15 years old, but rejected the opportunity.

The Belgian instead opted to join one of his country's biggest clubs in Anderlecht citing the fact he had not finished his education as the main reason despite the Gunners' lucrative financial offer.

The 25-year-old signed for the Foxes in an £18m deal from Sampdoria this summer, but was reportedly also a target for Unai Emery's side, alongside ex Sampdoria teammate and central defender Joachim Andersen.

FBL-EUR-C1-ARSENAL-ANDERLECHT

In quotes carried by the ​Mirror, Praet talked about the interest he had from clubs around Europe when he was a teenager, claiming: “I had three or four really good options. We went to visit ​Arsenal, Lille, Ajax and Anderlecht.


“Arsenal would have been a really nice step and I could earn a lot more money there than in Anderlecht, but at that moment my education was not finished and that was really important for me – there was no insurance that I would become a good football player."

Praet, predominantly a central midfielder, has also revealed that Brendan Rodgers really wanted the deep-lying playmaker to stay for ​the Foxes' second ​Premier League fixture against ​Chelsea

Ricardo Pereira,Dennis Praet

The midfielder signed with Leicester on transfer deadline day and the deal was concluded just one hour ahead of the closure of the window so he had left his stuff back in Italy meaning that he had to play against the Blues in somebody else's boots.

The Belgium international is trying to get accustomed to the Premier League featuring in three games for the club as well as featuring in Leicester's EFL Cup win over ​Newcastle.

Source: 90min