Leicester City have confirmed the signing of midfielder Boubakary Soumare from Ligue 1 champions Lille for a reported fee of £17million.
Soumare has signed a five-year deal with Leicester, who finished fifth in the 2020-21 Premier League season and won the FA Cup.
The midfielder, who has been capped by France at Under-19, 20 and 21 level, played 32 times in Ligue 1 as Lille won the title for the first time in a decade.
Only five players made more appearances across all competitions for Lille in 2020-21 than Soumare, whose solitary goal for the club came in the 2018-19 campaign.
A combative player in the centre of the park, Soumare attempted 63 tackles last season, with a success rate of 61.9 per cent – ranking him fourth in Lille s squad.
Of Lille midfielders, only Benjamin Andre (2,310) attempted more passes than the 22-year-old, who found a team-mate with 1,778 (86.69 per cent) of his 2,051 attempts.
Only Renato Sanches, who impressed for Portugal at Euro 2020, had a better passing accuracy when delivering into the final third than Soumare (75.24 per cent), though Leicester may well see him as a folly – and potential successor to – Wilfred Ndidi, who enjoyed another superb campaign for the Foxes.
I m really proud to come to the Premier League and a big club like Leicester, Soumare told LCFC.com.
It s going to help me to develop my game and progress as a player. I feel like it s the right step for me.
Leicester is a very ambitious club. When they spoke to me about their plans and what they wanted from me, I knew straight away I wanted to come here.
Brendan Rodgers is one of the main factors that made me want to come to the club. He s really good at developing young players, he knows them well and gives them their chance. I ve spoken to him already and it went well.
Soumare is Leicester s second addition of the close season, following the signing of forward Patson Daka from Salzburg.
