Midfielder Harry Winks has left Leicester City to join Italian side Cagliari for an undisclosed fee on a two-year contract.

The 30-year-old’s departure had long been expected, with the former England player, who was one of Leicester’s top earners, repeatedly falling out of favour in recent seasons.

Winks was omitted from the side late in the 2024-25 campaign by then boss Ruud van Nistelrooy as Leicester battled to avoid relegation from the Premier League, and having been recalled after they dropped into the Championship, he was later left out of the squad again by Marti Cifuentes.

He did regain his place under Cifuentes’ replacement, Gary Rowett, but a heated argument with a supporter, external as he boarded the team bus following a defeat at Portsmouth in April made him a focus of derision from City’s own fans for what remained of a sorry season which saw them relegated to League One.

Winks’ final appearances for Leicester were played out to the sound of boos from large sections of supporters whenever he touched the ball.

In total, he featured 109 times for the Foxes in all competitions after arriving for about £10m from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2023.

He played a leading role in Leicester’s promotion as Championship title winners under boss Enzo Maresca in his first season with the East Midlands side.

But he went to become one of the high-profile, big-earners heavily criticised for underperforming as they suffered back-to-back relegations to drop to the third tier.

Winks’ move to Cagliari sees him return to Serie A, having previously played for Sampdoria on loan in 2022-23 when the one-time Italian champions and European Cup finalists were relegated.