‘Decided Not To’ – Club Won’t Sign Leicester City Star | OneFootball

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Sassuolo have ‘decided not to’ trigger an option to buy clause to keep hold of Leicester City defender Woyo Coulibaly and the full-back will return to the King Power Stadium.

Coulibaly arrived at Leicester City from Italian side Parma in the winter 2025 transfer window as the Foxes fought against relegation from the Championship.

Leicester’s relegation saw Coulibaly make for the escape hatch and he headed back to Italy to join Sassuolo on a loan deal.

This term, the Mali international made 21 appearances in all competitions for Sassuolo, but the majority of his appearances came off the bench.

Sassuolo finished in mid-table in Serie A in the recent campaign and Coulibaly did not do enough to convince the Neroverdi to want to keep him.

They negotiated an option to buy in the loan agreement with Leicester which was set at €3m, however they ‘decided not to’ trigger it, according to Italian journalist Antonio Parrotto.

The defender is unlikely to be keen on remaining at the King Power into next season, with Leicester now in League One.

The club have just appointed Russell Martin as their new boss and it remains to be seen if he will want to speak to Coulibaly about his plans for the approaching campaign.

He managed just a handful of appearances at Leicester and Martin may have concerns over how he would adapt to League One if he did stay into next season.

Leicester are currently dealing with interest from Panathinaikos in Victor Kristiansen, who is not likely to want to play in League One.

The Foxes had Jordan James on loan at the club from Rennes, but relegation has scuppered any hopes of landing him, with Everton now one of the clubs keen.

Martin will want to try to finalise the shape of his squad as soon as he can, with the boss, whose appointment has split opinion amongst Leicester fans, knowing the importance of a good start.