Leicester City snap up Ghezzal from Monaco

Leicester City have replaced one right-sided French-born Algeria international with another.

The Foxes announced Sunday the signing of Rachid Ghezzal from Monaco, with the 26-year-old winger making the King Power shift on a four-year deal for a reported £10-million fee.

Ghezzal will be expected to partially fill the boots of countryman Riyad Mahrez, who became Manchester City's club-record £60-million signing in July. The 13-time capped international becomes Leicester's fifth signing of the summer transfer window, joining Jonny Evans, James Maddison, Ricardo Pereira, and Danny Ward in Claude Puel's ranks.

"I’m very excited and very happy to be here. I know the coach from Lyon and this is where I want to be. It’s a good club and an ambitious one too. Leicester City has many great players and I hope we will have a great season," Ghezzal told the Foxes' official website.

A local product of Lyon's acclaimed youth setup, Ghezzal made his first-team debut in 2012 and went on to make 87 league appearances for Les Gones before moving to the principality last summer. The move proves to be a decent bit of business for Monaco, who signed Ghezzal on a free transfer in August 2017, with the player making 33 appearances in all competitions for Leonardo Jardim's charges.

More a traditional wide player than Mahrez with a fraction of the creative ingenuity of his Desert Warriors mate, Ghezzal is a slick dribbler who fancies running at full-backs and cutting into dangerous positions. His highest goal output was eight league tallies during the 2015-16 Ligue 1 campaign, pairing that total with eight assists.