Leicester City attacker Demarai Gray joins Bayer Leverkusen
It’s official! Bayer Leverkusen have completed the deal for Demarai Gray from Leicester City. He will join the Bundesliga side on an 18-month contract before the Jan window closes on Monday.
Negotiations between the English outfit and German outfit moved along swiftly once the forward agreed to personal terms on Saturday – the sticking point was the fee between the Foxes and die Werkself.
Now after finally meeting on common ground for a transfer, they have agreed on a £2.7m deal, as per reports.
"Bayer Leverkusen have completed the signing of Demarai Gray from Leicester City, the former England U21 winger signing an 18-month deal at the BayArena."
Bayer Leverkusen have been in for Demarai Gray since last summer
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An exit was always on the cards for the Englishman, Demarai Gray. This was due to the lack of game time at the King Power Stadium.
He has only made two senior appearances this season – one EFL Cup outing and 19 minutes of Premier League action in a game he was introduced as a late substitution.
All this was going on while Leicester City was struggling to find a reasonable backup for Jamie Vardy – with the absence of the veteran striker massively noticeable in recent weeks.
Brendan Rodgers did not see it fit for him to slot in as the team’s makeshift number 9 and has opted to use Ayoze Perez to lead the line. It is yet to receive any dividends.
Also, the strong competition in midfield and out wide has also been the reason for him being second best, showing how far he has fallen down the pecking order.
Another player suffering from this Rodgers’ team selection is Kelechi Iheanacho, who should also be looking for a way out of the King Power having been limited to two EPL starts this season.
🗣 Demarai Gray: “It’s a great opportunity to gain new experiences with a very interesting club abroad. When the Bundesliga was the first big league to play again after the coronavirus break last year, the whole world watched. I like German football.”
— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) January 31, 2021
Thankfully Bayer followed through, even though it was later than expected, and came back in for the 24-year-old attacker. It is said he will take on a new challenge and play Leverkusen regulars for their spots, Leon Bailey and Moussa Diaby.
"The 24-year-old has since racked up 13 goals and 17 assists in 169 games across all competitions for the Foxes and will now compete with Leon Bailey and Moussa Diaby for a place out wide in Peter Bosz’s preferred three-man attack.“Demarai Gray is a real bag of tricks, he’s a quick and direct winger who adds another string to our bow in attack,” said Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes. ”He knows how to exploit his pace in one-on-one situations and has an eye for his teammates. Thanks to his Premier League experience, he can hit the ground running with us.” (Via: bundesliga.com)"
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Hopefully, this is what Gray needed to restart his football career and get it back on track. At the age of 24, he has some time to find his feet and show the promise he did as a teenager.