Ilari Kangasniemi has joined Leicester City from FC Inter Turku on a five-year deal, with the Finnish club receiving an undisclosed fee for the 19-year-old centre-back. He becomes Russell Martin's 10th signing of the summer transfer window.
Kangasniemi spent time in Inter Milan's youth academy without making a senior appearance for the Serie A club, returning to his home country last August. "I learned a lot [playing in Italy]. This league is much harder than the Finnish league, but I have a couple of European games under my belt, so I think that will be good preparation," he told Leicester's club website.
The move comes at a difficult moment for Leicester, who have taken one point from their first two League One matches, a 1-1 draw at Notts County followed by a 1-2 home defeat by Burton Albion, and were beaten 3-1 by Ipswich Town in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday.
He joins a summer intake at the King Power Stadium that already includes the Manchester City loanee Christian McFarlane, Liam Cullen from Swansea City, the striker Admir Bristric from Olimpija Ljubljana and Conor Chaplin, a free transfer from Ipswich Town, as Martin continues to rebuild his squad following back-to-back relegations.