{"id":9798,"date":"2022-01-30T21:35:22","date_gmt":"2022-01-30T21:35:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/rodgers-eyes-best-defender-in-french-football-but-villa-rival-leicester-for-afcon-ace"},"modified":"2022-01-30T21:52:50","modified_gmt":"2022-01-30T21:52:50","slug":"rodgers-eyes-best-defender-in-french-football-but-villa-rival-leicester-for-afcon-ace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/rodgers-eyes-best-defender-in-french-football-but-villa-rival-leicester-for-afcon-ace","title":{"rendered":"Rodgers eyes \u2018best defender in French football\u2019 but Villa rival Leicester for AFCON ace"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>Leicester City have been linked with a move for Metz defender Boubakar Kouyate but Aston Villa are also thought to be keen.<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old joined Metz in August 2020 and is rated as one of the best central defenders in France. He made 25 Ligue 1 appearances in 2020-2021 and has been seen 15 times this term. Nicknamed \u2018Kiki\u2019, Kouyate has earned 14 caps for Mali and played in the current Africa Cup of Nations.Mali finished top of their group with wins over Tunisia and Mauritania plus a draw against Gambia. However, they were eliminated at the last-16 stage by Equatorial Guinea following a penalty shootout.<\/p>\n

The match ended goalless and Mohamed Magassouba\u2019s side fell 6-5 on spot kicks. The tournament is a showcase for many African stars and Boubakar did his chances of a move to harm at all.<\/p>\n

And it seems as though Foxes chief Brendan Rodgers has been a keen observer. A report by The Sun claims Leicester are looking for a loan deal at the moment.<\/p>\n

However, Metz favour a permanent move away, with a price tag of \u00a316m placed on the former Troyes ace. The report adds that the rangy stopper\u2019s statistics make him the \u2018best defender in French football\u2019.And that is why Steven Gerrard is also on the case for Aston Villa. There is interest from France, with Lyon said to be interested in the Bamako-born centre-half.<\/p>\n

Metz are prepared to let him leave but, with his deal running until 2024, they are under no pressure to sell during the current window.<\/p>\n

Leicester looking to tie up stars<\/p>\n

It remains to be seen if the Foxes can get a deal over the line for Kouyate before the window closes on Monday night. But they are hoping to secure a number of their current players on fresh contracts.A report earlier this week claimed up to six stars could be handed new deals at King Power Stadium. Full-back Ricardo Pereira is thought to be in line for an extension despite seeing limited action in recent seasons.<\/p>\n

He will fall out of contract in the summer of 2023 but club bosses feel there is still more to come from the Portugal international. They have held \u2018positive talks\u2019 with his agent. And the same report suggests talks are planned for Youri Tielemans, Jamie Vardy, Kasper Schmeichel, Caglar Soyuncu and Jonny Evans.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Gambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. Leicester City have been linked with a move for Metz defender Boubakar Kouyate but Aston Villa are also thought to be keen. The 24-year-old joined Metz in August 2020 and is rated as one of the best central defenders in France. He made 25 Ligue 1 appearances in 2020-2021 and has been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":9797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,17],"tags":[2368,2355,2361,260,4337],"class_list":["post-9798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-sport","tag-afcon","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-gambia","tag-gambia","tag-rodgers"],"yoast_head":"\nRodgers eyes \u2018best defender in French football\u2019 but Villa rival Leicester for AFCON ace - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Leicester City have been linked with a move for Metz defender Boubakar Kouyate but Aston Villa are also thought to be ke ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/rodgers-eyes-best-defender-in-french-football-but-villa-rival-leicester-for-afcon-ace\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rodgers eyes \u2018best defender in French football\u2019 but Villa rival Leicester for AFCON ace\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Leicester City have been linked with a move for Metz defender Boubakar Kouyate but Aston Villa are also thought to be ke ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/rodgers-eyes-best-defender-in-french-football-but-villa-rival-leicester-for-afcon-ace\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-01-30T21:35:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-01-30T21:52:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2022\/01\/img-61f708931e067.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"731\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"383\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/rodgers-eyes-best-defender-in-french-football-but-villa-rival-leicester-for-afcon-ace#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/rodgers-eyes-best-defender-in-french-football-but-villa-rival-leicester-for-afcon-ace\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Rodgers eyes \u2018best defender in French football\u2019 but Villa rival Leicester for AFCON ace\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-30T21:35:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-01-30T21:52:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/rodgers-eyes-best-defender-in-french-football-but-villa-rival-leicester-for-afcon-ace\"},\"wordCount\":417,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/rodgers-eyes-best-defender-in-french-football-but-villa-rival-leicester-for-afcon-ace#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2022\/01\/img-61f708931e067.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"AFCON\",\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Gambia\",\"Gambia\",\"Rodgers\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/rodgers-eyes-best-defender-in-french-football-but-villa-rival-leicester-for-afcon-ace#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/rodgers-eyes-best-defender-in-french-football-but-villa-rival-leicester-for-afcon-ace\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/rodgers-eyes-best-defender-in-french-football-but-villa-rival-leicester-for-afcon-ace\",\"name\":\"Rodgers eyes \u2018best defender in French football\u2019 but Villa rival Leicester for AFCON ace - 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