Leicester transfer: Foxes beat Aston Villa and Crystal Palace to £500k defender

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Leicester are set to beat Aston Villa and Crystal Palace to the signing of Dundee United starlet Kerr Smith, according to The Sun.

Brendan Rodgers is ready to steal a march on his rivals to land the highly-rated teenager. The Foxes are thought to be ready to meet his £500,000 release clause.

Smith also had Manchester United courting him at one point, but the Red Devils look set to miss out.

Smith made his debut last season and appeared in a friendly for the first-team at the age of 15.

The centre-back enjoyed a trial at the King Power Stadium during last season. Now, Rodgers is ready to sign him during the summer transfer window.

Smith looks likely to join up with the under-23 ranks at Leicester first. It’s not completely out of the question that he could head out on loan too.

Villa and Palace will now monitor this one with intrigue and both might have seriously dropped the ball.

Smith is a talented player and it’ll be very interesting to see how he develops at Leicester.

Rodgers has a proud history of not only developing young players, but also in handing them a pathway to the first team.

Future star: Attractive signing for Leicester – Palace and Villa could have missed a trick

Leicester will have some requirements for a new centre-back in the coming years. Wes Morgan has retired, whilst Jonny Evans isn’t getting any younger.

This move perhaps suggests that Rodgers is prepared to look towards the future in his efforts to bolster his squad.

Leicester are a club in a healthy state and they’ll hold ambitions of achieving a top-four finish in the coming years.

Smith must fancy the project and strategy in place at Leicester and he could prove to be a decent piece of business by the Foxes.