Leicester City defender Caglar Soyuncu close to signing pre-contract agreement with Atletico Madrid with Diego Simeone keen to bolster his backline

Atletico Madrid are set to finalise a move for Leicester City centre-back Caglar Soyuncu, talkSPORT understands.

The 26-year-old has been earmarked as the player to fix Atletico's defensive woes, with Diego Simeone keen on the star.

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Soyuncu is expected to agree a pre-contract deal, meaning he would head to the Wanda Metropolitano in the summer when he becomes a free agent, sources have told talkSPORT.

The Foxes have already lost one key defender this campaign, after Chelsea secured the services of Wesley Fofana in August.

Brendan Rodgers' side were not expecting to lose Turkey international Soyuncu, who was a regular under the Foxes boss for three years.

Soyuncu helped Leicester lift the FA Cup back in 2021, but has since fallen out of favour at the King Power Stadium, featuring just once in the Premier League so far this season.

Leicester have struggled to fined any sort of form thus far and are 13th in the league, winning just five out of their opening 17 games.

A move to the Spanish capital, though, is a chance for the centre-back to get his career back on track.

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Soyuncu's move to Atletico would be a shrewd piece of business by the club, who look set to offload several stars this January.

Having finished bottom of Champions League Group B behind Porto, Club Brugge and Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico’s finances were hit.

Forward Matheus Cunha has already left the club on-loan joining Wolves.

Joao Felix, meanwhile, continues to be linked with a move to the Premier League, with Arsenal, Manchester United and even Aston Villa eyeing a swoop.

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The 23-year-old joined Atletico from Benfica for €127million [£108.9m] in July 2019 as one of the most highly rated teenagers in European football, as a replacement for Antoine Griezmann, who joined Barcelona.

Atletico are also set to offload defender Felipe, who has previously been of interest to Wolves, while 27-year-old centre-back Mario Hermoso is another who could also depart.