Juventus reject Leicester City bid for Merih Demiral

Leicester City have had their opening bid for Merih Demiral rejected by Juventus, according to Sky in Italy.

They are reported to have offered over £25.5 million for the centre-back, which you’d think is well short of what the Serie A outfit are likely to end up accepting, given that they’ve also rejected a £34 million offer from Borussia Dortmund.

It will be interesting to see what Leicester do next. Do they think Demiral is worth £40 million? Are they sure that such a risk is required at this time of the season?

If the answer to any of those questions is a no, then it’s fair to say that the Foxes need to look at other options elsewhere and bin the idea of the ‘Turkish Wall’.

Of course, Leicester do need cover at centre-back, but with Filip Benkovic now ready to play his part with the first team, there is no immediate need to spend big.

Yes, Brendan Rodgers could certainly do with a proven winger or two.

This isn’t to say that Ayoze Perez and Harvey Barnes/Demarai Gray have done badly. It’s just that they have not done enough and have the tendency to go missing too often, which hinders Leicester at times.

While the league table doesn’t reflect that for now, it could in May.

With Jamie Vardy – and even Kelechi Iheanacho – going as well as ever, were he to be partnered by someone like Jarrod Bowen or Hakim Ziyech, Leicester’s attack could be unstoppable. The streets are not ready.