Demarai Gray has told BBC Sport he is ready to sign a new Leicester contract after the club refused to sell him to Premier League rivals at the end of the summer transfer window.
The Mirror claim Tottenham and Bournemouth both had bids rejected for the England Under-21 international in August, with Sky Sports Italy journalist Gianluca Di Marzio reporting on his personal website that Tottenham tabled a stunning £25million offer for the forward shortly before the transfer deadline.
However, Leicester held firm in the face of the interest in the 21-year-old and they are close to tying him down to an extended deal.
Gray scored his first league goal in over a year in their 2-0 Premier League win over Everton last Sunday, which was Claude Puel’s first game as manager.
With the Foxes’ managerial situation now resolved, he is ready to commit to fresh terms and put to bed speculation about his immediate future, which has prompted speculation in the Sun that Tottenham will consider a fresh move for him in the January window.
“We wanted to see who the new manager was, a bit of stability, but I’m happy playing football here,” Gray said, as quoted by the BBC Sport website.
“It’s for my representative and the backroom staff to deal with. All I can do is what I’ve done [against Everton]. When they give me the phone call we’ll get it sorted.”
The forward’s appearance against Everton was only his 12th league start in 20 months since joining from Birmingham for £3.7m in January 2016. He has come on as a substitute 39 times.
“I’ve always said I’m ready to play and I’ve waited a long time,” Gray told BBC Sport. “Hopefully now this can be a start of a run of games for me.
“It’s what I need, to get some confidence and momentum myself and most importantly develop as a player.”
Gray made 43 appearances across all competitions last term for Leicester, scoring three goals and supplying six assists in the process, although most of his game time came off the bench.
OPINION
Spurs are lacking a turbo-charged attacker with pace to burn. Could Gray be that player in the future? An England international in the making, he was the outstanding player for the Under-21s this summer, but has found game time at Leicester harder to come by than he had hoped. Under the shrewd guidance of Mauricio Pochettino and playing alongside the likes of Harry Kane and Dele Alli, he could fast-track his development and provide Tottenham with a much-needed speed machine. Gray might be in line for a new deal and a pay rise but that is unlikely to halt Spurs’ interest, especially if he continues to be used as a last resort.