1st February, 2016
Leicester’s pursuit of Ahmed Musa will likely have to wait until the summer, with both CSKA Moscow and the Nigeria striker’s camp insisting he will stay in Russia.
The 23-year was a primary target for Ranieri but CSKA’s insistence on a £20million-plus move has ground this one to a halt.
CSKA Moscow had already rejected two bids for Nigeria international Musa from the Premier League leaders as they looked to bolster their strikeforce with Jamie Vardy, Shinji Okazaki and Leonardo Ulloa their current options in attack.
Leicester boss Ranieri has said that he was confident of signing a striker, but also expressed calm at progressing with the three forwards in his squad.
Dwight Gayle and Loic Remy remain options for the King Power Stadium outfit to explore.
Gayle fits the profile Ranieri is looking for and Crystal Palace are open to doing business after bringing Emmanuel Adebayor to Selhurst Park.
Remy will come into the reckoning if both those deals fail to materialise. His proven record is counter-balanced by the wages he would require, which would break Leicester’s salary structure and team harmony is a factor.
Meanwhile, the Foxes’ Swiss midfielder Gokhan Inler could still move on loan to get game time ahead of Euro 2016.