Turkish Clubs Besiktas & Trabzonspor Join Race to Sign Leicester Defender Yohan Benalouane

Turkish clubs Besiktas and Trabzonspor have joined the race to sign Leicester defender Yohan Benalouane, according to L'Equipe - via Sport Witness.

The French centre-back was last week linked with a move to Osmanlispor with his future in the Premier League growing increasingly doubtful.

There now appears to be three Turkish sides set to battle it out for the transfer of Benalouane before the close of the transfer window.

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It is believed that Osmanlispor have offered the 30-year-old a three-year contract, although no details of a fee have been revealed.

Leicester are reportedly looking to free up some room on their wage bill and are expected to allow Benalouane to leave.

The Foxes brought in defender Harry Maguire from Hull earlier this summer and still have Robert Huth recovering from injury, so Benalouane is likely to find his game time limited.

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Benalouane, who spent four years in Ligue 1 with Saint Etienne, signed for Leicester in 2015 and has also spent time in Serie A with Atlanta, Parma and Fiorentina.

He found himself substituted in pre-season against Burton after making a rash challenge, and was not included in the squad for the first Premier League game of the season against Arsenal.

“It was a reckless, and would have been a red card,” manager Craig Shakespeare said after the Burton defeat, quoted by the Leicester Mercury. “My decision was to take him off, sit him down, show him that because he has got to learn from that. If he doesn’t, he won't be involved.

"He has got that in his game. If he doesn’t get rid of it, he won't play.”