(Credit: Imago)

Pete O'Rourke, Transfer Correspondent

Fri 24 April 2026 21:32, UK

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Leicester City are chasing a move to sign Lorient striker Bamba Dieng on a free transfer alongside Blackburn Rovers, Portsmouth and Oxford United, sources have told Football Insider.

The 26-year-old is out of contract with the Ligue 1 side at the end of the season, and a number of clubs from across Europe, including Bundesliga side St Pauli, are chasing the signature of the Senegal international.

The versatile forward has scored nine goals in 18 Ligue 1 appearances for Lorient this season.

Dieng, who almost joined Leeds United from Marseille back in 2022, has endured injury issues in recent years and failed a medical ahead of a proposed move to Nice in the summer of 2022.

Leicester eye Bamba Dieng as part of attacking rebuild

Leicester’s relegation into League One was sealed by their defeat at home to Hull City on Tuesday night, but they have already got their eyes on potential reinforcements ahead of next term.

The Foxes appear set to lose several of their key attacking players after slipping into the third tier, with Abdul Fatawu likely to be sold and starlet Jeremy Monga attracting interest from a whole host of elite clubs.

The East Midlands outfit are preparing to try and rebuild their options in the final third, and Dieng has been identified as a player who could be a good fit at the King Power Stadium.

He has enjoyed a career-best season with 14 goals from just 21 appearances in all competitions this term, and that could potentially earn him a move to England this summer.

Leicester are among a big group of suitors for the soon-to-be free agent, who has no shortage of options available to him for his next move.

The Foxes are set to find themselves competing with clubs higher up the pyramid in the race to secure Dieng’s signature, but are still backing themselves to get a deal done.

How much will Leicester get for Jeremy Monga?

Former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness told Football Insider in March 2025 that Leicester could lose Monga for as little as £2million, given that he has not yet signed professional terms with his boyhood club.

The young winger doesn’t turn 17 until July, and is currently only tied down to a scholarship deal, leaving Leicester in a vulnerable position as almost all of the Premier League’s elite clubs are circling.

Wyness expected last year that any move for Monga would see the Foxes net a small fee at a tribunal, but far from the figure that they would have otherwise hoped to have secured for the young talent.

He has become a regular feature for them in the Championship this term, but it now looks increasingly likely that his club will be unable to fend off the interest in him this time around.