Football
Exclusive: Ricardo Pereira Set for New Leicester Deal as Nacional and Valencia Circle
Leicester City are looking to extend Ricardo Pereira's contract, offering him a new two-year deal. The defender, who joined the club in 2018, has been a key player in recent successes, including the FA Cup win in 2021. However, there is interest from Nacional and Valencia as Pereira's current deal expires at the end of the season. Stay tuned for updates on his future.
Liverpool v Leicester City - Carabao Cup Third Round by Visionhaus | Getty Images
Leicester City are set to offer captain Ricardo Pereira a new deal, SportsBoom can exclusively reveal.
The former Portuguese international is one of a number of players from the squad which were relegated from the Premier League last season who are out of contract at the end of the campaign.
And our sources understand Foxes’ bosses want to keep the defender at the club and are ready to offer him a new two-year contract.
Pereira joined the club in 2018 from Porto for a fee in the region of €25million.
The 32-year-old was part of the squad which famously won the FA Cup in 2021 and helped the club get promoted back to the top flight by winning the Championship in 2023/24.
There is interest from abroad with Nacional keen to take the player back to Portugal.
Valencia are also eager to swoop for his services and are monitoring his situation at the King Power.
Pereira would be allowed to talk to clubs outside of the UK when the transfer window reopens in January ahead of moving as a free agent come the end of the season.
In other news, Leicester are looking to offload out-of-favour striker Patson Daka in January, with Rangers among the clubs linked with a move.
Stay or Go?
Pereira came through the academies at Benfica and then Sporting before making his professional debut at Viťoria Guimarãres in 2012.
A move to Porto came about the following year and he flittered between the main side and the B team in the early stages of his time at the club.
He enjoyed a two-year loan spell at Nice and was voted the French league’s best full back in 2016.
After returning to Porto, Pereira mad 27 league appearances as the club won the Primeira Liga title in 2018 and made the big-money move to Leicester that summer.
Pereira played 39 times during the promotion-winning campaign two seasons ago and has scored twice in ten league games so far this term.
Shane is an experienced sports journalist with over a decade on the front line, covering everything from football to horse racing. A familiar face in the snooker pressroom, his work regularly appears in the Daily Mirror, Daily Express, and Daily Star, alongside SportsBoom.
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