Jordan Ayew joins Leicester City from Crystal Palace
English premiership side Leicester have signed Ghana forward Jordan Ayew on a two-year contract from Crystal Palace in a deal worth an initial £5m.
Ayew, who has spent the past six years at Palace since initially joining on loan in 2018, will boost the Foxes' attacking options.
He made 212 appearances for Palace, scoring 23 goals, and was a second-half substitute in their 2-1 defeat to Brentford on Sunday.
The 32-year-old Ghana international, who has represented his country at two FIFA World Cups and six Africa Cup of Nations, has made 212 appearances for the Eagles in all competitions.
Speaking to LCFC.com he said: “I’m very happy to be here and I’m proud. I want to thank the Club as they fought hard to bring me here – it happened quickly and I’m so happy to be here.
“As a player, when you hear that the manager wants you, it just makes you want to come and work under him and to try to improve. Even though I’m 32, as a player you always want to learn and improve. I’m here to work hard and help the team achieve their targets.”
Born in Marseille, Ayew began his professional career with the Ligue 1 outfit, scoring on his debut in a 2-1 win against FC Lorient. He went on to make 111 league appearances for The Olympians, finding the net on 14 occasions.
Short spells with fellow Ligue 1 clubs FC Sochaux and FC Lorient followed, before he signed for Aston Villa in 2015, finishing the 2015/16 season as their top goalscorer.
Ayew made the switch to Swansea City in January 2017 and went on to make 50 appearances for the Welsh side in all competitions, scoring eight goals.
A loan spell at Crystal Palace followed in 2018/19, before he made the move permanent, signing on a three-year deal at the end of that campaign. In 2019/20, he won Player of the Season, Players’ Player of the Season and Goal of the Season at the club’s end of season awards and leaves having scored a total of 23 goals for the Eagles.
He made his senior debut for Ghana in 2010 and has since made over 100 caps for his country, featuring for them in two FIFA World Cups in 2014 and 2022, as well as six Africa Cup of Nations, helping them to finish runners-up in 2015.
He will now link up with his Leicester City team-mates ahead of their Premier League trip to Craven Cottage to take on Fulham on Saturday, August 24 (3pm kick-off).
Newly-promoted Leicester drew 1-1 with Spurs in their first game of the Premier League season on Monday, with Jamie Vardy scoring the equaliser.