• Foxes sign 24-year-old defender for an undisclosed fee • Maguire: ‘Once I had my eyes on this club, I always wanted to join’

Leicester City have announced the signing of the defender Harry Maguire from Hull City for an undisclosed fee. The 24-year-old joins the Foxes on a five-year contract.

A fee of around £17m has reportedly been agreed between the clubs and Maguire will join his new team-mates in early July ahead of Leicester’s pre-season training camp in Austria.

“It’s obviously a very exciting time for myself,” Maguire said. “Once I had my eyes on this club, I always wanted to join. Thankfully I’m here so I can’t wait to get the season started and kick on.

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“There were a number of clubs interested, but when I met the manager here he pretty much swayed it into the direction of this club. He showed me the way that the club is going. It’s on the up and it looks very promising for the future, so credit to the gaffer.

“You can see that with the structure of the club it’s going to look upwards rather than down so that was a big reason why, as soon as I knew there was an interest, I wanted to jump at the opportunity.”

Maguire’s arrival shores up the centre of Leicester’s defence after injuries to Robert Huth and Wes Morgan last season exposed their lack of depth in the position.

Sheffield United, who Maguire left to join Hull City in 2014, stand to receive a handy financial boost after inserting a sell-on clause in that deal.