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Exclusive: Leicester City take the lead in the race for Marcel Tisserand

Speaking exclusively to Get French Football News, Marcel Tisserand’s agent Patrick N’Tanda has confirmed that he is advanced talks with Premier League side Leicester City about a possible move.

Is it more likely that Marcel will end up at Leicester than at OGC Nice, as you look at the situation today?

We are in advanced discussions with Leicester but we are not on the verge of signing anything. We are missing discussions with Monaco who do not want to let Marcel go at the moment, despite the fact that Fabinho will finally not be leaving the club, something that had previously been expected. The plan was Fabinho was going to leave and Tisserand was going to naturally replace him. Monaco want to keep Tisserand as a backup option but we don’t want that. We are in discussions with Leicester to find out if Monaco are ready to let him go, and what they will offer us, in terms of salary. I was on the phone with them 10 minutes ago.

What happens if Monaco decide to keep him?

We have a good relationship with Monaco, we have always been able to make compromises up until now. I think that in the end we will get what we want simply going off the discussions we have already had with Monaco, but we will not push them all the way if they don’t want to.

What do you think is going to happen next?

I hope that Marcel goes to Leicester. Today, that is his number one wish. Ranieri knows him very well, it is he who gave Marcel his first chance in Ligue 1, he acted like Marcel’s father when he was just starting out. Marcel has kept very good memories from his time with Ranieri and it would be a pleasure to work with him again.

Are we looking at a loan or a straight transfer here?

Monaco do not want to loan the player, not even here in France, nor do they want to sell him elsewhere. Monaco have always had the same policy, to buy very good young players and then sell them. If Leicester make an offer that Monaco are happy with, I think that Monaco will not oppose the idea of Marcel leaving. I don’t know how much Monaco are going to ask for, but if a solid offer is made, they will surely accept.

Antoine Kornprobst