Leicester City has held discussions with intermediaries regarding a potential January deal for Lyon winger Tete, transfer insider Dean Jones has told GiveMeSport.
The Foxes are in need of additions after a disappointing first half of the season at the King Power Stadium, and it appears Brendan Rodgers’ side is interested in the Brazilian.
Leicester City transfer news – Tete
According to The Daily Mail, Tete is keen on landing a move to the Premier League this month and Leicester is one of the clubs showing an interest in him.
The 22-year-old is currently on loan at Lyon and has enjoyed decent form this season, netting six times in 17 Ligue 1 appearances.
Nonetheless, it is unclear whether the French club will exercise its £17.5m option to acquire the South American permanently.
The Daily Mail suggests that there is the potential for him to move elsewhere this month if an agreement can be reached with both Lyon and his parent club.
Leicester is reportedly keen but faces competition from Everton and Nottingham Forest while remaining at Lyon shouldn’t be ruled out either.
What has Dean Jones said about Tete and Leicester City?
Speaking to GiveMeSport, Jones claimed that Leicester had made contact with intermediaries to work out Tete’s plans for the January window.
The transfer insider told GMS: “There have been negotiations through intermediaries on this one, to try and work on a strategy and figure out where Tete might go – also for how much, exactly. We saw with Mudryk that Shakhtar know the value of a player and is pretty set on things being on their terms. Obviously, this transfer isn’t quite at that level.”
Read more: January Transfer Window 2023: When Does It Begin, Rumours and Everything You Need To Know
Why is Leicester City targeting Tete?
Tete is certainly a highly-rated talent. Upon signing for Lyon in March as a consequence of the situation in Ukraine, former manager Peter Bosz described Tete as a “special player” that would usually be out of the club’s reach
It also says a lot that he was invited to train with Brazil’s first team as an 18-year-old, although he’s still awaiting his first senior cap.
Tete boasts a solid record for Shakhtar – 31 goals and 15 assists in 108 appearances according to Transfermarkt, including strikes and setups in the Europa League and Champions League – and has now shown evidence that he can provide output to a similar level a more competitive top flight.
At the same time, the right-wing slot that Tete usually takes up has been a problem position at Leicester for some time.
While Harvey Barnes is an automatic starter on the left when fit, James Maddison, Denis Praet, Ayoze Perez, and Marc Albrighton have all played there this season, with only the latter being primarily a wide player.
Tete could solve that problem while giving Leicester a much-needed boost for the rest of the campaign – they’re currently just one point clear of the relegation zone.
