Dennis Praet lifts lid on Arsenal snub earlier in career

Belgium international Dennis Praet has explained why he turned a move to England earlier.

New Leicester City midfielder Dennis Praet turned down a big-money move to Arsenal as a teenager.

The Belgian international Dennis Praet, who signed for Leicester City in an €20 million transfer from Sampdoria over the summer, was given a tour of Arsenal’s training ground as a 15-year-old and received an offer from the Gunners.

But valuing his education, he chose to stay in his homeland, moving from Genk to Anderlecht.

“I had three or four really good options,” Praet told The Guardian. “We went to visit Arsenal, Lille, Ajax and Anderlecht.”

“Arsenal would have been a really nice step and I could earn a lot more money there than in Anderlecht, but at that moment my education was not finished and that was really important for me – there was no insurance that I would become a good football player.”

The Belgian midfielder has so far made three Premier League appearances for Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester side this season. He started his professional career with Anderlecht in his homeland back in 2011.

He went on to make 139 league appearances for them before moving to Sampdoria in 2016. Whilst at Sampdoria, Praet went on to make 98 league appearances in Italy before joining Leicester this summer.

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