(Reuters) - Leicester City's Turkish defender Caglar Soyuncu is a readymade replacement for Harry Maguire after making a strong start to the Premier League season, manager Brendan Rodgers said on Thursday.
England international Maguire moved to Manchester United in a world record deal for a defender earlier this month but Soyuncu, who joined Leicester from Freiburg last year, has slotted in seamlessly at the heart of their defence.
They drew 0-0 with Wolverhampton Wanderers in their opener and battled to a 1-1 draw at Chelsea last weekend.
"When you work closely with him (Soyuncu), you see his quality. He had big boots to fill and he's been very good in both games," Rodgers told reporters ahead of Saturday's trip to Sheffield United.
"For a modern-day centre back, he's exactly what you want."
The Northern Irishman also heaped praise on his side for their performance against Chelsea.
"It gives us belief we can compete. We had to dig deep and show resilience and spirit but our mobility, technical quality and hunger in our pressing was very much there for the final hour," Rodgers added.
England international left back Ben Chilwell is a doubt for the clash at Bramall Lane as he continues to struggle with a hip issue that kept him out of the last match.
"Ben has had an injection last week. We'll see if he's ready for the weekend, but it's likely he'll be ready for next week (against Bournemouth)."
Christian Fuchs is likely once again to fill in for Chilwell if the 22-year-old is ruled out.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)