Leicester City have signed striker Odsonne Edouard on a season-long loan from Crystal Palace.
The 26-year-old France under-21 international completed his switch to the King Power Stadium just as the summer transfer window closed.
Leicester, who had spent close to £80million on eight new signings this summer, had been looking to bring in an additional central striker but as deadline day began they were not actively working on any deals unless something enticing emerged.
During the day Palace made it clear that Edouard, who had previously been a target for Leicester under Brendan Rodgers before he joined Palace and before Leicester signed Patson Daka, was available for a loan as Palace worked on bringing in Eddie Nketiah from Arsenal.
Ironically, it is Daka’s ankle injury, picked up in pre-season and will keep him out for several months after surgery, that forced Leicester to push for another striker as cover.
Leicester were left with main striker Jamie Vardy and new signing Jordan Ayew as their striking options as young forward Tom Cannon was sent out on loan to Stoke City on deadline day.
Manager Steve Cooper wanted to bring in a striker with a different profile to the attacking options he had, a more physical player who could hold up the ball and link play, but Leicester didn’t have the budget to push through their interest in Panathinaikos striker Fotis Ioannidis, who would have cost around £25 million.
Edouard signed for the Selhurst Park club from Celtic in 2021 and has made 103 appearances for the south London club, scoring 21 times in all competitions.
He played 30 games last term as Palace secured their joint-highest Premier League finish.
(Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)
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