New Leicester signing was wanted by EPL rivals

Leicester City finally secured their first signing of the summer by signing Timothy Castagne from Atalanta. But there was interest elsewhere.

Castagne emerged as a possible replacement to Ben Chilwell last week when Chelsea confirmed the deal for the left-back.

The Belgium international joined Atalanta from KRC Genk in 2017 before he made 96 appearances in all competitions for the Italian side.

He scored five goals from either wing as a versatile full-back and made his Belgium debut in 2018, now joining Youri Tielemans and Dennis Praet in Leicester.

However, following the announcement of his signing, TuttoMercatoWeb revealed that Arsenal had been monitoring the situation in hope of bringing the 24-year-old to the Emirates Stadium.

George Gardi, who owns Gardi Management, discussed the interest from Mikel Arteta’s men and why there was a preference to the East Midlands side.

"He said: “There were several clubs seriously interested in the player such as Arsenal and PSG, then the market combinations prevailed: Leicester, having made an important sale, were the first among the contenders to meet the demands of both Atalanta and the player."

Gardi also explained how the opportunity to join Leicester came up for the defender, who helped Atalanta to the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.

"“At the end of the transfer market in January, despite being in the idyllic world of Atalanta, Timothy and his agent Zenon confessed to me and my partner Pini Zahavi their desire to compete in the Premier League.“In recent months, Timothy remained focused on Atalantam while our work, together with his agent Zenon, was geared towards understanding what could be the best solution for him. Premier League clubs have actually proved to be the most attractive.”"

The move didn’t take long to materialise, despite Leicester City’s relatively quiet summer, but Gardi confirmed the negotiations were “very complicated.”

"“It was very complicated, the desire not to sell the player manifested itself through the delay in setting a selling price.”"

Despite the interest from Arsenal, Rodgers got his man and will look to be adding to his squad before next weekend’s trip to West Brom.