Souttar reportedly off to EPL, German side progress in Cup despite 50m own goal
Fellow EPL clubs West Ham and Wolves were also interested in Souttar, but it seems Leicester have won the race.
Leicester are believed to have a verbal deal with Championship club Stoke and Souttar will head to the top flight in a deal worth £15 million ($26 million), according to BBC Sport.
Souttar’s acquisition will be a major boost for manager Brendan Rodgers, who has seen his team leak goals in an unconvincing Premier League campaign this season.
Dundee United are also expected to profit from the move as Souttar was a former academy player at the Scottish Premier League club.
The 24-year-old rose to prominence at the World Cup in Qatar where he was a mainstay in defence for the Socceroos.
Graham Arnold’s men bowed out 2-1 to eventual champions Argentina in the last 16 but not before Souttar and his teammates gave Lionel Messi’s team an almighty scare with their never-say-die approach right to the end.
One of the defining moments from the Socceroos’ campaign was Souttar’s last-ditch tackle to deny Tunisia a goal-scoring chance in Australia’s 1-0 group stage win.
Harry Souttar’s now-famous tackle on Tunisia’s Taha Yassine Khenissi.Credit:FIFA
“The first thought in my head was I’m not going to let him get inside the box,” Souttar told Keepup when reflecting on the tackle.
“If I was going to get the ball or not, I was just going to try and take (him) out basically.”
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Souttar was born in Scotland and featured for the country at under 17 and under 19 level.
But he qualified to play for the Socceroos because his mother was born in Port Hedland in Western Australia.
The 198cm defender made his Socceroos debut in 2019 just days after setting foot in Australia for the first time.
His hopes of featuring for Australia at the 2022 World Cup were hanging by a thread after he tore his ACL while playing for the Socceroos in November 2021.
Souttar made his playing return just in time ahead of the World Cup and was able to shine at the showpiece event despite his lack of match practice.
AAP, DPA
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