Back in 2021, when Alessandro Circati joined Parma, he also had the chance to sign for Leicester City.
That decision was covered by the Italian media at that time, with newspapers revealing he had a trial with the Foxes, and chose to join the Serie A side instead.
This week, Circati was interviewed by Sport Optus, with quotes relayed by I Love Palermo Calcio. There, he recalled that he indeed spent some time training with Leicester City, and it’s actually the Brexit rules which stopped him from playing for the club.
“I was at Leicester for about three months and had been given the chance to sign there, but because of Brexit, which came into effect on January 1st, I wasn’t allowed to stay,” said Circati.
“So I came back here because my family is not too far away and I had the opportunity to do some training at Collecchio. After about a week of training they took me aside and told me they would like to have me for the rest of the season. I took a weight off my shoulders after signing for a big club. It was my dream.”
Circati joined Parma’s youth ranks back then. He was part of their U-18 and U-19 squads, and got promoted to the first team in the summer of 2022.
The youngster is now conquering his place as a starter at the Serie A side, and at the age of 20, he now has 35 appearances for them.
It seems only time will tell whether Leicester City will regret having missed out on his signing, although it now seems they had their hands tied when it came to keeping him at the club.
