Wilfred Ndidi has reportedly passed his medical ahead of a £15m January move to the Premier League from Belgian side Genk, and will be announced officially as a Leicester playerin the coming days.
Belgian journalistKristof Terreurreported news of Ndidi's completed medicalon Twitter, as the player arrived back at the airport on his return to Genk.
A picture of Wilfred Ndidi at Brussels-Midi yesterday eve, after he returned from his medicals at Leicester. Well done @D_Boy85. #lcfc pic.twitter.com/9rmm7TGfDc
19-year-oldNdidi may be an unfamiliar name to many in the UK, but the Genk star, who can also play in defence, comes with some big boots to fill.
As Terreur pointed out in a tweet, the Nigerian international wouldn't be the first to succeed after leaving the Belgian club in recent years:
Sold by KRC Genk since 2011
✅Ndidi £15m
✅Benteke £8m
✅Courtois £7,5m
✅De Bruyne £7m
✅M-Savic £7m
✅Koulibaly £6m
✅Kabasele £6m
✅Kebano £3,8m
Since 2011, 'deSmurfen' have let go a sizeable section of thespine of Belgium's international side, including:Christian Benteke (£8m to Aston Villa 2012), Thibaut Courtois (£7.5m to Chelsea 2011)andKevin de Bruyne (£7m to Chelsea 2012).
Add this to the likes of highly-sought after and £50m-rated Napoli defenderKalidou Koulibaly and Atletico Madrid's Stefan Savic and you have an incredibly impressive and underrated record of producing top talent.
While Genk took home a respectable income from the above sales, it still appears Belgium isthe place to go for bargains.
Time will tell if Ndidi can replicate the illustrious careers of his alumni, but history suggests you shouldn't be surprised if he's worth a lot more than the reported £15m Leicester are forking out for him in a few seasons.