The winger who spent the 2023/24 season on loan at Leicester played a crucial role in their promotion back to the Premier League as Championship winners.
Consequently, the Foxes are expected to trigger the obligation to buy fee inserted at the beginning of the season.
An imminent sale
When Sporting signed Fatawu from Steadfast, the club inserted a €60m release clause considering he had just won the best player award at the 2021 U20 Africa Cup of Nations.
Despite impressing, and being promoted to the Sporting senior team after a few months with the youth teams, the winger struggled to nail a starting spot under Ruben Amorim.
In Issahaku’s pursuit for more minutes, he agreed to join Leicester, who had just been relegated to the Championship after Martyn Glover’s head of recruitment recommended the winger to the newly appointed Enzo Maresca.
Leicester and Sporting agreed Issahaku’s season-long loan could be made permanent if he satisfies certain conditions.
Once the Ghanaian played 60% of games for Leicester and they got promoted, the English club will have an obligation to buy him for €17m.
However, there is a catch.
After breaching profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) for the period ending 2022‑23, the Premier League placed a transfer embargo on Leicester. As a result, the Foxes can’t re-sign or register new players without the approval of the EFL.
Maresca admits: “In this moment, it is complicated.” The club's stance on Issahaku hasn’t changed and they will go all out to ensure the Ghanaian is part of their Premier League squad.
Ruben Amorim confirmed that Sporting will be looking to cash out on the winger in his pre-match conference ahead of the Porto game.
“Fatawu is a player with a lot of talent, but sometimes team dynamics and coaches can't get the best out of players. Let's make money with it. I am very happy for Fatawu, he has always behaved very well here, he played for team A, team B, and Youth League, always with great behaviour,” he said.
The breakdown of the fee
If Leicester are to find a way and pay the €17 million required for Issahaku’s transfer, Steadfast will receive €7.9 million.
Issahaku started playing professionally at Steadfast and spent three years with the club before joining Dreams on loan.
When Sporting paid €1.2 million to Steadfast for Issahaku in 2022, the Tamale club asked for a 50% sell-on clause to be included.
The clause works so that the 50% will be of the value gained from the future transfer. Once Leicester pays the €17 million, Sporting will take out the €1.2m they invested initially in Issahaku.
This means the remaining €15.8 million will be the value gained from the transfer for Leicester and Steadfast to share 50-50.
Both sides will get €7.9m once Leicester triggers the clause.
A bargain for Leicester
There is a popular anecdote that advises fans to “never fall in love with a loan player.” Fair to say Leicester fans couldn’t help it. Nowadays you can occasionally spot a Ghanaian flag at the King Power whenever Leicester play.
It’s become customary to see Issahaku orchestrate his own chant in front of the fans whenever the Foxes pick up important points.
The 20-year-old is the life of the Leicester dressing room with his impeccable dance moves. On the pitch, he’s equally competent as well.
Issahaku has scored six goals and provided 13 assists in the league this season. The winger has looked reborn under Maresca and has regained confidence on the flanks.
With how inflated the transfer market has been recently, €17 million for Issahaku, a player who knows Leicester well, could prove to be a bargain.
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