Leicester, Southampton join race to sign exciting Championship full-back

Leicester and Southampton are the latest Premier League clubs to express interest in a Championship starlet, according to a report.

The two sides are looking for defensive reinforcements prior to the end of the summer transfer window. They have already agreed on one transfer, as Leicester parted with £15million to bring Jannik Vestergaard to the King Power.

However, Brendan Rodgers is still short at the back after Vestergaard picked up a knee injury during training.

The Denmark international, 29, has joined Jonny Evans, Wesley Fofana and James Justin on the sidelines.

Southampton, meanwhile, are looking to reinvest some of that £15m back into the squad.

Football League World provide a report saying that both teams are hoping to land Djed Spence from Middlesbrough.

He is a talented 21-year-old who usually operates as an attacking right-back.

Spence featured in 38 Championship games last term as Boro finished 10th in the table. He also scored one goal, in a 2-0 victory over Coventry City back in October.

This season, the Englishman has played in three of the first four league games. He was left on the bench against Derby County, leading to rumours of a transfer away from Riverside.

Spence looks destined for a Premier League switch, although when that will happen remains unknown.

Football League World write that Boro will command a large transfer fee as the player’s contract does not expire until June 2023.

Leicester and Southampton aren’t the only teams to place Spence on their wish list.

In November, we exclusively reported that Everton, Wolves and Newcastle United were all interested in a January deal.

Those clubs continue to monitor his situation, even though a transfer never went through.

Spence started his career at Fulham before joining Boro’s U23 side in July 2018. He was promoted to their first team the following year and has since made 70 appearances in all competitions, scoring two goals.

Rodgers rues costly Leicester mistakes

Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers has reacted to the Foxes’ 4-1 defeat at the hands of West Ham.

They were outplayed and outfought at the London Stadium, with Michail Antonio scoring two good goals late on.

Rodgers said: “We started the game OK and we looked like we could hurt them. We made too many mistakes. Credit to the players, they kept going. There’s no doubting the mentality or the spirit.

“We got to 2-1 and were ready to make subs and attack the game – but then they scored the third goal. We were looking to go to 4-3-2 and get the extra player up there.

“By the end, Michail scores a couple of great goals and finishes the game.

“We weren’t at our top level tonight, we needed to move it quicker, taking too many touches.”

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