Leicester in £15m transfer move for Southampton centre-half Jannik Vestergaard to boost Champions League bid

LEICESTER are making a £15million move for Southampton’s giant Danish defender Jannik Vestergaard.

Foxes boss Brendan Rodgers wants an extra centre-back to aid his push to make the Champions League and he is close to a deal for the experienced Saint.

Southampton may sell Vestergaard, 27, as their run of results has virtually guaranteed them safety — and they feel they can afford to sacrifice a player.

Rodgers is a centre-half short as Wes Morgan has been struggling with injuries and he would like to send Croatian international Filip Benkovic out on loan.

Benkovic played for Celtic last season and could be allowed to go the Championship for game time.

That would leave first-choice Foxes duo Caklar Soyuncu and Jonny Evans as the only fit central defenders at the club.

And Rodgers has turned to Vestergaard after failing with a move for Juventus ace Merih Demiral.

Vestergaard, who is 6ft 6in, joined Saints from German side Borussia Monchengladbach for £18m in July of 2018.

He played made only 23 Premier League outings last season and has not been able to nail down a starting role in this campaign.

Vestergaard struggled at the start of the season and was hooked at half-time in Saints’ 9-0 mauling at home to Leicester in October.

Boss Ralph Hasenhuttl has preferred to partner Jack Stephens and Jan Bednarek as Saints’ centre-back pairing in recent weeks.

And that has coincided with a resurgence that has seen Saints soar from the relegation zone up to ninth since mid-December.

Bednarek has picked up an Achilles injury so Vestergaard made his first Prem appearance in more than two months in Saints’ 2-0 win at Crystal Palace on Tuesday.