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Leicester confident Demarai Gray will sign new £50,000-a-week contract
Demarai Gray is close to signing a new £50,000 a week contract after Leicester rejected a £25m bid from Bournemouth.
Gray, the England Under-21 winger, is in advanced talks and expected to commit his future to the club before the end of the month.
Bournemouth made at least two offers for Gray in the transfer window, including a significant bid on deadline day which was turned down.
Crystal Palace also made an attempt to sign Gray, who has frequently admitted his frustration over a lack of first-team opportunities under Claudio Ranieri and then Craig Shakespeare.
But Leicester are ready to reward the 21-year-old with a deal which will double his money as a gesture of their faith in him.
Shakespeare said: “I've said and stated a long time ago that for me Demarai has a big future and I want it to be with this football club. He is very well thought of and hopefully we can resolve that contract, which is on-going.
“He wants more game time and in an ideal world we want to give him that and he wants to develop here.
“But having spoken to him since the window closed, I know he is in a good place.”
Gray appeared as a second-half substitute in Leicester’s 2-1 defeat by Chelsea on Saturday and is yet to start a league game this season.
But Gray is focusing on forcing his way into Shakespeare’s first XI for this weekend’s trip to Huddersfield.
"The transfer window can be unsettling, it's something that every player has to deal with every couple of months but I'm still a Leicester player. I want to work hard and get myself into the team,” said Gray.
"The window is closed and you're not guaranteed anything. There's 24 players in the squad so it's not about guarantees about playing more. I'll let my representatives deal with the contract and I'll just concentrate on playing football."