Jannik Vestergaard, 29, made 32 appearances in all competitions for Southampton last season; Denmark centre-back was previously subject of interest from Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers in January 2020; defender joins for £15m, signs three-year deal and can face Wolves on Saturday
Friday 13 August 2021 20:25, UK
Leicester have completed the £15m signing of defender Jannik Vestergaard from Southampton on a three-year deal.
The 29-year-old joins as Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers expands his defensive options amid injury issues at centre-back.
Vestergaard was registered in time to be able to play against Wolves in Leicester's season opener on Saturday.
The Foxes wanted to sign a centre-back after Wesley Fofana was ruled out for a significant period with a broken leg sustained in a pre-season friendly against Villarreal last week, while Jonny Evans is struggling with a long-term foot issue.
Rodgers tried to sign Vestergaard, who has one year left on his contract at St Mary's, in January 2020.
The Denmark international joined Southampton from Borussia Monchengladbach for a fee believed to be £18m in July 2018.
He made 32 appearances under Ralph Hasenhuttl last season as Southampton finished 15th in the Premier League and played in all six of Denmark's games as they reached the semi-finals of Euro 2020.
Speaking on Thursday, Hasenhuttl said: "We have lost Jannik now, so in the centre-back position we are not super strong with the numbers, but the rest of the squad seems to be quite balanced."
The 2021/22 Premier League will start on Saturday August 14 - 34 days after the Euro 2020 final at Wembley.
The season will end on May 22 2022, with all 10 games kicking off at the same time.
The 2021/22 EFL season will kick off on Saturday August 7.
Next season's League One campaign will finish on the weekend of April 30 2022, with League Two and the Championship on one of May 7 and May 8 respectively.
The League One play-off final will then be held on Saturday May 21, the League Two play-off final on Saturday May 28, and the Championship play-off final on Sunday May 29.
You can follow all the latest transfer news and rumours in our dedicated Transfer Centre blog on Sky Sports' digital platforms, as well as keeping track of all the developments on Sky Sports News.