Leicester winger on verge of signing a new deal, says Shakespeare

Craig Shakespeare has revealed Demarai Gray is on the verge of pledging his long-term future to the club by signing a new deal.

Leicester rejected Bournemouth’s £25m bid for Gray during the summer despite the fact the England U21 international has struggled to make any impact at the club.

Despite venting his frustations about a lack of game time in the past, Shakespeare has revealed Gray is close to penning a bumper new deal, which has been awarded to the 21-year-old as a reward for staying.

“People used to criticise Ronaldo for the same things,” BBC Sport quote Shakespeare as saying. “With a run of games and experience, that will come.

“If the opposition put two defenders against you and you’re trying to beat them all the time, then you have to find another solution. That’s what football is all about, finding the right solution for that given moment.

“The contract is in the final instalments, his advisers are talking with our director of football and I’m expecting that to be completed sooner rather than later.”

“It’s well documented we had bids for Demarai. We didn’t want to sell him, we want to build the club with players of his ilk.

“He’s shown a real desire now to want to stay and progress his career with this club. It’s important we now tie that one up and concentrate purely on his football.”

Gray is expected to make his second start of the season when Leicester host Liverpool in the League Cup on Tuesday night where he will be looking to carry over the good form he showed in the last round.

Leicester thrashed Sheffield United 4-1 last month to set up a clash with Liverpool and Gray was named the WhoScored Man of the Match in that win after playing a direct hand in two of the goals.

However, since the start of last season, only Hal Robson-Kanu (27) has been subbed on more times in the Premier League than Gray (26).