Rodgers says Souttar has ALREADY made an impact at Leicester

Brendan Rodgers delights in the arrival of £15m Harry Souttar as Leicester boss reveals Socceroos defender has ALREADY had an impact on his Foxes squad despite joining on deadline day

  • Brendan Rodgers has lavished praise on January signing Harry Souttar 
  • The 24-year-old joined Leicester City in a £15million deal from Stoke City 
  • Click here for all your latest international sports news at Daily Mail Australia 

Brendan Rodgers has revealed that Harry Souttar has already made an impact on his Leicester squad as the Foxes boss delighted in the arrival of the Socceroos star.

Souttar, 24, sealed a January deadline day switch to the Premier League club after a $26million (£15m) fee with Championship outfit Stoke City was agreed. 

The Australian defender caught the eye at the World Cup with a number of imperious performances, and Leicester manager Rodgers lavished the 24-year-old with praise when asked about his new man ahead of their match with Aston Villa this weekend. 

‘[I am] Delighted,’ he said. ‘I’ve seen Harry as a younger player and obviously seeing the trauma of coming through a bad injury, and seeing his performances at Stoke and the World Cup. 

‘I also spoke to a number of people really respect in the game who spoke so highly of him, and I can see why having met him and spoke with him.’

Brendan Rodgers has delighted in the arrival of Harry Souttar from Stoke City

Rodgers added that despite entering new surroundings, Souttar has already hit the ground running at Leicester and has impressed his teammates. 

‘So he’s a young player on the way up, he has done very well in the Championship. I saw him a lot in Scotland as a young player and he is going to come in to show his quality in the Premier League and he gives us that stature that we are looking for but as you have seen in the World Cup, he can play football as well. 

‘We are delighted to have Harry in and just in his first few days he has made a really good impact already.’ 

While Rodgers was able to land Souttar, the manager missed out on signing Leeds United winger Jack Harrison, and he lamented the fact that Leicester couldn’t get that deal over the line.

The Socceroos defender joined the Foxes in a transfer deadline day switch worth $26m

Rodgers revealed that Souttar has already made an impact on his Leicester City squad

‘It was surprising the player (Harrison) was going to be available and then it got as far as it did, having met and spoken with the player,’ he said.

‘It’s something which didn’t happen but other than that I’m happy with the three players we brought in. It didn’t quite materialise but it doesn’t take away from the fact we had a really good window.

‘Its been a long time since the club signed players in January but there was definitely a need for it. Especially after the last couple of windows.

‘It’s not just about now, it’s preparing going forward. We have a number of players out of contract in the summer in key positions, especially at centre-half. It was important from that aspect, strategically.’

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