Callum Doyle will join Leicester for this season as former Manchester City coach Enzo Maresca has snapped up the talented defender.
Doyle, 19, enjoyed an impressive year at Sunderland two seasons ago before following that up with Coventry, with another excellent campaign that saw him named their Young Player of the Season ending in heartbreaking fashion as they lost 6-5 on penalties to Luton in the play-off final. The centre-back is also involved in the England youth set-up and played recently for the Under-20s.
Maresca had said when he took the Leicester job that he would be interested in signing a few players after a previous stint in the City academy, and despite some discussions over a permanent move has instead moved to sign up Doyle - pending a medical on Wednesday - for the upcoming year on loan. The pair gelled when they worked together in the 2020/21 side when the defender made 14 appearances for the coach and was part of both the Under-18s and Under-23s that won their respective leagues.
In a sign of how much City rate the youngster, who is contracted until 2027, there will be no option to buy for the Foxes. As much as Maresca can enjoy the reliability of a player schooled in the City academy, the Blues were happy to send one of their top prospects to a manager who works from the same textbook as Pep Guardiola and the coaching staff at the Etihad.
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City will make at least £25.5m from two more academy players when the deals for James Trafford (£15m) to go to Burnley and Shea Charles (£10.5m) to go to Southampton are finalised. There will also be an additional £8.5m in performance-related payments as well as transfer clauses that can enable City to ensure more control of the futures of each player.
