Leicester reach surprise Caglar Soyuncu transfer decision after Brendan Rodgers confirms exit talks

Leicester City have come to the surprise decision of keeping Caglar Soyuncu, according to a report – despite two clubs pushing particularly hard to obtain his signature.

Soyuncu’s form fell off a cliff last season and this has seen him drop down the pecking order at Leicester. The centre-back has largely been kept on the bench during Premier League matches so far this term. His only outing came in the Carabao Cup second round win over Stockport on August 23.

Soyuncu is struggling to get into the Leicester side ahead of Jonny Evans and Wilfred Ndidi. That is despite the latter’s best position being in central midfield.

Soyuncu will likely fall further down the pecking order once Wout Faes gets up and running. The 24-year-old was signed from Stade Reims on transfer deadline day to replace Chelsea-bound Wesley Fofana.

Following the abysmal 5-2 defeat to Brighton recently, Rodgers was asked why Soyuncu was left out of the squad entirely.

The manager said: “Cags, with the greatest of respects, has been out of form for a while in training.

“Cags thought he was moving on, so it’s been a difficult period for him. We changed the back four around this evening. We had conceded 10 goals in four games.”

This saw Rodgers effectively confirm that the 26-year-old was in discussions over a potential return to Turkey. Besiktas and Galatasaray have both been trying to capture him in recent days.

While England’s transfer window shut on September 1, Turkey’s doesn’t close until tonight (Thursday). This gave Besiktas and Galatasaray extra time to secure a deal, in comparison with potential Premier League suitors.

Caglar Soyuncu future finalised

But according to Football Insider, Leicester will not let Soyuncu return to his homeland this evening. They want to keep him at the King Power to help maintain squad depth. This will in turn aid them in their pursuit of getting back to top form.

This is a surprising decision for several reasons. Firstly, the defender is likely to be left angry by the fact he is being forced to remain at Leicester.

He will have been excited at the opportunity to go back to Turkey, where he hasn’t played since 2016. Soyuncu only played for lesser-known Turkish clubs before, so representing Besiktas or Galatasaray would have been very attractive to him.

Soyuncu, who has won 48 caps for the Turkish national team, will also have concerns over game time. He could have become a regular starter with either Besiktas or Galatasaray, which is unlikely to happen under Rodgers at Leicester.

Foxes to take financial hit on Soyuncu

There is also the potential financial incentives in selling Soyuncu. His Leicester deal expires next summer, which means the Foxes could have picked up a decent fee for him in the recent transfer window.

Instead, Leicester are now preparing for him to go in January for an even smaller sum. And if that doesn’t happen, then the player could move on for free next summer.

Leicester spent around £19million to bring the centre-half to England from German club Freiburg. But they could now take a big financial hit on him after deciding to reject Besiktas and Galatasaray’s advances.

Caglar Soyuncu will now have to buck his ideas up and attempt to impress Rodgers in training. This could see him return to the starting eleven.

And if he does well in the Premier League once again, then he could get a good transfer next year.

Meanwhile, a pundit thinks Leicester may look to a Scottish Premiership manager if they do sack Rodgers.