Chile international Charles Aranguiz has snubbed Leicester City to join Bayer Leverkusen, the Bundesliga club has announced.
Aranguiz, 26, has been heavily linked with a move to Premier League this summer and looked on the verge of joining the Foxes after Claudio Ranieri’s side had a club-transfer record offer of £10.6m accepted by Internacional.
However, the Copa America winner has instead opted to join Leverkusen, penning a five-year deal with Leverkusen.
“The Bundesliga is one of the best and most attractive leagues in the world and Bayer 04 has been one of the top clubs for years. My international teammate Arturo Vidal raved about Bayer 04 and that’s why I wanted to join this club,” Aranguiz told Bayer’s official website.
“I also see Leverkusen giving me the chance of playing in the Champions League. Leverkusen have almost been in it every year and we want to make [it] to the group stage again this year. I’m looking forward to this huge challenge in a new country.”
Leicester’s interest in the central midfielder was understandable following a sublime showing at the Copa America at the start of the summer.
In fact, only his Chilean teammate Jorge Valdivia (16) made more key passes in this summer’s Copa America than Aranguiz (14) and his performances were enough to earn him a sport in WhoScored’s team of the tournament (7.50).
For more stats on Charles Aranguiz, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
