Ahmed Musa to Leicester City: Foxes have submitted new offer for Nigerian striker, claims CSKA manager

The newly-crowned Premier League champions attempted to sign the 23-year-old for £18m in January

The CSKA forward Ahmed Musa (Getty Images)

Leicester City have submitted an offer in the region of £22.8m for CSKA Moscow striker Ahmed Musa, according to Leonid Slutsky, the Russian club’s manager.

The Premier League champions attempted to lure the 23-year-old to the East Midlands in January but were unprepared to extend their valuation of the Nigeria forward beyond £18m.

Musa, who has previously been linked with Manchester United, scored 18 goals last season as CSKA secured the Russian league title. The Foxes hierarchy consider him the ideal strike partner for top goal-scorer Jamie Vardy and have tracked his progress across the last two seasons.

Despite public statements to the contrary, Claudio Ranieri hopes to execute an extensive summer recruitment programme. Slutsky, the CSKA manager, on the other hand, claimed on Wednesday morning that an offer had been received and appeared to hint that further talks could be imminent.

Should Leicester be able to agree terms with both CSKA and Musa, the proposed deal is certain to eclipse the £7m paid to Rijeka for Andrej Kramarić in January 2015.

“The British club offered a bit less than €30m,” Slutsky told Russian television station Match TV. “Musa came to me a few days ago and asked when he [Ranieri] is back for the holidays and I told him I do not know; I do not know Ranieri.”

Asked whether CSKA would be willing to talk with Leicester, Slutsky added: “I do not know for sure. It is the work of our management but I think the probability is high.”

Meanwhile, Leicester hope to make Luis Hernández, the Sporting Gijón defender, their first signing of the summer on a free transfer.