Leicester City centre-back Caleb Okoli has hinted he will remain at the club following their relegation to the Championship.
The centre-back, a £13m signing last summer, suggested he will be part of a “rebuild” at City as they try to get themselves back into the Premier League.
Writing on social media, the centre-back said: “This season didn’t go how we dreamed. Every setback is a set-up for a comeback. We’ll rebuild and come back stronger. Thank you for sticking with us.”
Okoli had seemed like a contender to leave the club having been the subject of speculation over a return to Italy in January.
At the time, he had been out of favour under Ruud van Nistelrooy and while he did start four matches from February onwards, he did not manage to establish himself as a regular.
Wout Faes and Jannik Vestergaard had looked like being City’s centre-back pairing for the final few months until the Dane was dropped, with Conor Coady coming back in.
After starting and scoring his first City goal in the 2-2 draw at Brighton, Okoli only played a few more minutes over the final weeks of the season, coming on for added time against Nottingham Forest.
But the 23-year-old Italian may feature more often in the Championship, especially with doubts around City’s other senior centre-backs.
Faes is a strong contender to be sold with interest across Europe, while Coady has a year left on his deal, putting his future in doubt. Vestergaard has two years remaining but after being pushed to the fringes, he could depart.
That could then put Okoli in a position to feature more regularly, potentially alongside Ben Nelson, who is to return to the club after a successful loan spell with Oxford.
Okoli has four years remaining on his City contract and if he was to leave, City would need to sell him for more than £10m to ensure they make a profit as far as Profit and Sustainability Rules go.
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It was certainly a fairytale ending to Jamie Vardy's Leicester City career - netting his 200th goal in his final match for the club.
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And there are plenty of tributes from those who played with him, against him and worked with him.
Jamie Vardy, it's certainly been a party!
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