Leicester are considering meeting Southampton's £18m price tag for Danish centre-back Jannik Vestergaard as the Foxes seek defensive reinforcements.
Recurring injuries to Wes Morgan and the inexperience of Filip Benković has led Brendan Rodgers to pursue another defender, more specifically a centre-back, in order to push for Champions League qualification during the second half of the Premier League campaign.
Despite his poor performances of late, Vestergaard is being considered a prime candidate by Rodgers, who believes the Dane's experience will be vital in the latter stages of the 2019/20 season.
Despite the Foxes reportedly readying a £15m bid for the Saint's defender, the Daily Echo understand that Southampton will only entertain the idea of a move if they can recoup the £18m they paid Borussia Mönchengladbach for the 6'6 defender back in July 2018.
Juventus centre-back Merih Demiral was Rodgers' first-choice target, however a season-ending ACL injury, coupled with the short amount of time left to sign players in the January window, means Vestergaard has emerged as a target for the Foxes.
Vestergaard has been largely omitted from Ralph Hasenhüttl's starting 11 following his calamitous display in Southampton's 9-0 thrashing at the hands of Leicester back in October, in which he was substituted at half time, and has therefore started just one of the last 11 Premier League games for the Saints.
Vestergaard featured in just 23 Premier League games last season and has so far been unable to cement a place in Hasenhüttl's starting XI as the Austrian has tended to favour a centre-back pairing of Jack Stephens and Jan Bednarek in recent weeks.
Moreover Southampton's resurgence since December, which has seen them climb the table into ninth place, means that the Saints boss is unlikely to alter his starting XI drastically in the coming months, meaning a January exit for Vestergaard seems likely.
Bednarek has been instrumental for the Saints this season and has played in 26 games across all competitions. The 23-year-old did, however, pick up an achilles injury prior to the 2-0 win over Crystal Palace which provided Vestergaard with his first Premier League start in over two months.
Source: 90min
