{"id":36953,"date":"2026-01-04T17:19:30","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T22:19:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/01\/04\/sky-sports-official-admits-leicester-city-prevented-24-year-old-from-leaving-in-january\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T17:19:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T22:19:30","slug":"sky-sports-official-admits-leicester-city-prevented-24-year-old-from-leaving-in-january","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/01\/04\/sky-sports-official-admits-leicester-city-prevented-24-year-old-from-leaving-in-january\/","title":{"rendered":"Sky Sports official admits Leicester City prevented 24-year-old from leaving in January"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_74 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/01\/04\/sky-sports-official-admits-leicester-city-prevented-24-year-old-from-leaving-in-january\/#Leicester_City_deny_Caleb_Okoli_progress\" >Leicester City deny Caleb Okoli progress<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/01\/04\/sky-sports-official-admits-leicester-city-prevented-24-year-old-from-leaving-in-january\/#Leicester_Citys_2526_season_so_far\" >Leicester City&#8217;s 25\/26 season so far<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Leicester City have reportedly rejected a transfer offer from Italian Serie B side Cremonese, preventing defender Caleb Okoli from leaving the club in January.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sky Sports report Gianluca Di Marzio that the Foxes have revealed that the 24-year-old centre-back is not for sale during this period, despite his fluctuating minutes in the Championship this season.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Leicester_City_deny_Caleb_Okoli_progress\"><\/span>Leicester City deny Caleb Okoli progress<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Coach Di Marzio revealed that Kremonen has identified Caleb Okoli as a key target to strengthen his defensive line.<\/p>\n<p>However, the investigation was met with swift and firm rejection from Leicester City authorities.<\/p>\n<p>He said the club immediately rejected interest and indicated its intention to keep the squad intact for the remainder of the 2025\/26 season.<\/p>\n<p>This is not the first time an Italian club has shown interest in a Leicester City player. Back in the summer, AC Milan were also linked with a move for Okoli.<\/p>\n<p>Okoli, who joined the Foxes from Atalanta, has been featured in the squad this season but faces stiff competition for a starting spot.<\/p>\n<p>He has appeared in 14 league games so far, and while he is not an absolute starter every week, the club clearly see him as an important asset.<\/p>\n<p>Given the grueling nature of the Championship schedule and the club&#8217;s ambitions to move up the table, losing the senior defender in January appears to have been an unwelcome risk for management.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 612px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Photo Credit: Plumb Images\/Leicester City FC via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Leicester_Citys_2526_season_so_far\"><\/span>Leicester City&#8217;s 25\/26 season so far<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>It was a turbulent return to the second division for Leicester City. After being relegated from the Premier League last year, the Foxes have found it difficult to find consistency in the Championship.<\/p>\n<p>As of early January 2026, the team is in mid-table, sitting in 14th place with 34 points from 25 games.<\/p>\n<p>This inconsistency prevented them from gaining momentum heading into the playoffs.<\/p>\n<p>The team ended 2025 with a morale-boosting 2-1 win against Derby County, but suffered a disappointing 3-1 defeat against Sheffield United on New Year&#8217;s Day.<\/p>\n<p>Under manager Marti Sifuentes, the defense has been lackluster, conceding 37 goals in 25 games, a record that speaks to the club&#8217;s reluctance to let a defender like Okoli leave.<\/p>\n<p>With a play-off spot in the distance, maintaining the depth of Leicester&#8217;s squad will be vital if they hope to build momentum in the second half of the season towards promotion.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End -->\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Leicester City have reportedly rejected a transfer offer from Italian Serie B side Cremonese, preventing defender Caleb Okoli from leaving the club in January. Sky Sports report Gianluca Di Marzio that the Foxes have revealed that the 24-year-old centre-back is not for sale during this period, despite his fluctuating minutes in the Championship this season. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36954,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[40],"class_list":{"0":"post-36953","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}