Leicester are close to signing Wesley Fofana from St Etienne after agreeing a deal worth up to €40m (£36.5m) for the central defender.
The 19-year-old Frenchman has also been targeted by West Ham but Leicester had the wherewithal to make an acceptable offer that includes add-ons, and personal terms have been agreed.
St Etienne had contemplated holding on to Fofana for a further season in the expectation that his value would rise. He is in line to become the second defender to join Leicester this summer, after Timothy Castagne was signed as a replacement for Ben Chilwell, who moved to Chelsea.
West Ham’s search for defensive reinforcements continues, with Slavia Prague’s right-back Vladimir Coufal and the Napoli central defender Nikola Maksimovic among the players they are considering.
