“Worst signing, £20 million for him is outrageous, what were they thinking?, Is that what they needed?”- Darren Bent says Leicester City signing is worst transfer deal of the summer

Darren Bent cannot believe that Leicester City paid £20m to sign Oliver Skipp, describing the deal as the worst signing of the summer transfer window.

Tottenham made wholesale changes to their midfield this summer, with Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray arriving through the door, while Skipp and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg were both allowed to depart.

The Englishman joined Leicester just before the start of the new season, with the deal thought to be worth in excess of £20m, while the Lilywhites also reportedly managed to get a sell-on clause on their academy graduate (Alasdair Gold).

The Foxes will be hoping that the 23-year-old adds the required bite and quality to their midfield and forms a good partnership with former Tottenham teammate, Harry Winks, as they aim to secure their place in the Premier League.

However, Bent believes that Skipp is not the sort of signing that Steve Cooper’s men needed to secure their top-flight status.

The pundit told talkSPORT (03/09/24 at 5:45 pm): “Worst signing, Oliver Skipp and I feel so bad saying that.” Andy Goldstein responded: “You are a horrible man.”

Bent added: “What am I supposed to do? I just think £20 million for Skipp is outrageous, what were they thinking. Is that what Leicester needed? Oliver Skipp and Harry Winks. Harry was good last year in the Championship.

“The reason why I am not putting Dewsbury-Hall (to Chelsea) in there because Chelsea have just thrown the money left, right and centre at loads of different players, so you almost get lost in it.

“I am not saying he is a bad player. Leicester fans can tell me, when they signed Oliver Skipp, did they automatically think ‘right, yes, he gives us the best chance of staying up?’ Does he?”

While £20m was a steep price to pay, that is the going rate for a homegrown midfielder with Premier League experience, who is coming from a top-six side.

Time will tell if it proves to be money well spent for the Foxes.