Reims coach Oscar Garcia has admitted he was sorry to see defender Wout Faes depart for Leicester City on deadline day.
The Belgian defender arrived at the King Power Stadium in a €17m deal from the French side yesterday, becoming the Foxes’ only major arrival of the summer.
He joins Brendan Rodgers’ side as a replacement for Wesley Fofana, who forced through an €80m+ deal to Chelsea earlier in the week following weeks of speculation about his future.
Faes will be tasked with filling the hole the Frenchman has left behind at Leicester and continue the development he has shown in France in the last two years.
Those have seen him establish himself as a key player for Reims since returning from a loan sell with KV Oostende in 2020, having originally joined Reims from the Belgium side in the January transfer window that year.
“On the one hand I am happy to have helped the club develop the two players who were the two most important sales in the club’s history (Hugo Ekitike and Wout Faes),” L’Equipe report him saying.
“I’m happy about that, but on the other hand I’m a bit sad to lose them, especially Wout because he left at the end of the window. He was a leader and an important player for me.”
