Belgium midfielder Dennis Praet has revealed the reason why he chooses Leicester City over Arsenal in the summer.
Praet signed a five-year deal at the King Power stadium on the deadline day of the transfer window in a £18million move from Sampdoria.
And the player has already played four games for his new employers, with the ex-Sampdoria man seeing action in the English top-tier and the Carabao cup.
However, it turns out the 25-year-old, a target for Arsenal this summer, could have signed for the Unai Emery’s side a decade earlier with the player a long-standing target for the Norht London giants.
However, the player ended up signin deal with Belgian club Anderlecht before making the switch to Sampdoria.
Explaining his thinking, Praet said: “I had three or four really good options.
“We went to visit Arsenal, Lille, Ajax and Anderlecht.
“Arsenal would have been a really nice step and I could earn a lot more money there than in Anderlecht, but at that moment my education was not finished and that was really important for me – there was no insurance that I would become a good football player.”
Explaining his move to Leicester City Praet admitted he feared the deal would not get through in time.
“It was a really close call because it was deadline day.
“I arrived at the training ground but there were some small issues with the contract and I think it was only one hour before the deadline that everything was figured out, so I signed just in time.
“But I arrived here with the thought that if I sign, I could go back to get my stuff I needed.
“But the gaffer really wanted me to stay for the first game, against Chelsea.
“I had no boots, so I did two training sessions and the first game with somebody else’s. I don’t even know whose they were.”