Leicester City tipped to land blockbuster £12m fee amid Harry Souttar's World Cup showings | OneFootball

Leicester City will be slightly concerned about the performances of defender Harry Souttar at FIFA World Cup 2026.

Leicester City have endured a miserable time of it, both on and off the pitch, in the last couple of seasons, and they are beginning the 2026/27 campaign in the Championship.

The Foxes succumbed to back-to-back relegations from the Premier League, with Marti Cifuentes and then Gary Rowett overseeing last year’s woeful season in the second-tier.

Despite boasting the winner of the EFL Championship Young Player of the Season in Jordan James, on loan from Stade Rennais, Leicester failed to show any consistency or cohesion at any stage of the campaign, leading to their eventual relegation.

As they prepare for life in the third division for the first time in well over a decade, Leicester will be expected to be busy in the summer transfer window once again, both in terms of incomings and outgoings.

One potential outgoing could well be centre-back Harry Souttar, especially if he goes on to continue to thrive for Tony Popovic’s Australia at FIFA World Cup 2026.

Harry Souttar isn't going under the radar at FIFA World Cup - Foxes could strike gold as a result

Having suffered from an injury-hit time of it at the King Power Stadium, following his move from Stoke City back in January 2023, for a fee believed to be in the region of £15 million, Harry Souttar showed some real quality at the back end of their Championship season.

The 27-year-old defender has since gone on to put an excellent performance in as Australia surprised Türkiye with a 2-0 victory at BC Place in Vancouver – and it might be the start of Souttar earning himself some suitors, which is something that concerns FLW’s Leicester Fan Pundit Jamie Preston.

Jamie told FLW: “Harry Souttar having a storming World Cup is not very beneficial for Leicester, and it would be a travesty if he does.

“Hopefully he doesn’t, just because we need him back at Leicester.

“When he came in for the final couple of games of the season against Millwall and Blackburn, he was outstanding. He looked like he hadn’t had any injuries over the last 18 months.

“He was an old-fashioned centre-half, winning every header, every tackle – just like Jannik Vestergaard didn’t do, and the goal he scored against Millwall, another one of the old-fashioned centre-halves. A ball to the back post, rises, storms past everyone and heads it into the back of the net.

“If he has a decent World Cup then he will be off. Unfortunately, given the position that Leicester are in financially, Leicester might have to take advantage of that and get some of the money back that we paid for him for £15 million from Stoke.

“I would say looking at £10 million-£12 million for him but, personally, I would love him to stay at Leicester, and he is the leader that we need in the heart of that defence, especially if it is Russell Martin that gets the job and, so for me, it is a non-starter – we need him to stay at Leicester, unfortunately.”

Harry Souttar could be one of several Leicester City departures this summer

With the summer kicking off with the confirmation of Bilal El Khannouss’ now permanent switch to Bundesliga side Stuttgart, Leicester also confirmed the departures of Jamaal Lascelles, Ricardo Pereira, Wanya Marcal, Jordan Ayew, Patson Daka and Chris Popov.

Some of the expected departures for this summer now have to include some of the returning loanees to the King Power, with defensive duo Wout Faes and Woyo Coulibaly coming back from Monaco and Sassuolo, respectively.

It would be astonishing to see Harry Winks, who had his fallings out with Leicester supporters late on last season, play a part in League One, too, while Abdul Fatawu has previously been the subject of interest from the Premier League.

As they gear up for their League One campaign, plenty of things remain up in the air for The Foxes, and it could well be that they are forced to cash in on Harry Souttar, especially if he continues to shine in Group D games against Paraguay and co-hosts the United States.