Leicester are close to completing the signing of the France Under-21 midfielder Nampalys Mendy after Nice accepted a revised offer of around £10m, although the Premier League champions could still make a move to sign Mario Lemina from Juventus as well.
It is understood that Mendy, who played under Ranieri at Monaco before moving to Nice in 2013 for an undisclosed fee after his contract expired, will fly to England on Monday to finalise his transfer after several weeks of negotiations between the two clubs.
The 23-year-old defensive central midfielder is considered by the Italian to be the ideal replacement for the France international N’Golo Kanté, who has a £20m release clause in his contract and has been linked with moves to Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain.
However, it is also understood that the Gabon midfielder Lemina remains on Leicester’s radar despite having only completed a permanent move to the Italian champions in April. The 22-year-old joined from Marseille for £7.5m having spent the season on loan in Turin but will be allowed to leave.
Leicester also offered almost £12m to sign him last week before submitting their latest bid for Mendy but could still return for Lemina as Ranieri seeks to strengthen his squad before the new season. The newly-promoted Bundesliga side RB Leipzig are also in the frame for a player who began his career at the French side Lorient.
