DONE DEAL: Leicester City sign Fousseni Diabate from Gazelec Ajaccio

Leicester City have the completed the signing of Fousseni Diabate from Ligue 2 side Gazelec Ajaccio for an undisclosed fee.

The 22-year old has signed a four-and-a-half year deal at the King Power Stadium and is going to be joining the Foxes’ U-23 squad before he can be considered for the first team.

A product of the Stade Rennais academy, Diabate had only moved to Ajaccio this summer from Guingamp. The Mali U-23 international has made 20 appearances this season, scoring three goals and assisting another. While those numbers may not be eye-catching, his performances have certainly have caught the eye of many across Europe.

Fousseni Diabate becomes the third Leicester City player to have signed from Ligue 2, the other two being Anthony Knockaert and Riyad Mahrez. Speaking recently at a press conference, Claude Puel seemed confident that the attacker can be just as good as the previous two. He said:

"“In the past Leicester have signed good players from Ligue 2 in Mahrez and Knockaert.“I think Diabate has a lot of quality. He has pace and good penetration. He has very good feet and he can make the difference.“He is versatile and can play anywhere across the front, winger both sides and striker also.“It is a good opportunity for the future and an interesting player.”"

Claude Puel also confirmed that Diabate will be a part of the U-23s, though he’d be definitely be in contention for Leicester City’s first team.

"“He will between the under-23 and the Premier League squad,” he said. “I think he has the quality to play in the Premier League with all the attributes.“We will see how he adapts to the Premier League and to the dressing room also.“He is a young player so will be patient with him, but he has all the attributes to become a good player.”"

It’ll be interesting to see how Diabate develops at Leicester City over the next few months, or perhaps weeks. Going by the recent record of the arrivals from France, Leicester may well be in for a treat; however, the East Midlanders haven’t necessarily got their attacking signings right.

Islam Slimani, Ahmed Musa and Kelechi Iheanacho all arrived at the club with just as much promise, talent and expectations, but it hasn’t gone to plan for either one of them as they prepare to leave in this transfer window.