Leicester City have announced their initial deal of the summer with midfielder Henry Cartwright moving to Scottish Premiership newcomers Falkirk for the season.
The 20-year-old will experience his first taste of senior football with the Bairns, having matured into a reliably strong performer for City at under-21 level.
While players have exited City on free transfers this summer, this marks their first agreement with another team, with many more expected over the next two months.
Falkirk are returning to the Scottish Premiership for the first time in 15 years after securing a second consecutive promotion last term.
It appears Cartwright nearly contributed to their Championship success, with Falkirk’s CEO Jamie Swinney disclosing the club nearly signed him in January.
Swinney said: “(Cartwright is) a player that we were close to bringing in earlier this year after tracking for a while, one that we believe has all the attributes to add to and enhance the group. We are grateful to LCFC for trusting us with Henry’s development.”
Falkirk manager John McGlynn said: “Henry is a player we’ve targeted for some time, he’s a ball-playing, high-intensity, ball-winning central midfielder who has the profile we were looking for.
“His style is a little different from what we’ve got but will definitely complement our midfield, he is more than capable of making the passes to keep us on the front foot and testing our opponents, but will add that gritty steely determination to win challenges in the centre of the pitch.
“He will do the defensive side in midfield that we’ve not needed that much in the last three years, but that we will need this season in a much more physical league.
“I would like to thank everyone at Leicester City FC for making this loan deal happen, and in particular (director of football) Jon Rudkin and everyone at SMI World, Henry’s agency.”
Cartwright has been a regular in the core of City’s Under-21s squad for the past two seasons, and last term missed just one Premier League 2 match.
He led the team late in the season, and concluded the campaign with five goals, including one from the penalty spot in the 5-3 extra-time loss to Southampton in the end-of-season play-offs.
Though he hasn’t yet made his City debut, he was included in the matchday roster for the away defeat to Newcastle last December.
He will hope to find greater success in Scotland than two of his City teammates. Midfield partner Sammy Braybrooke was brought back from his loan at Dundee last season after struggling for playing time, while center-back Tom Wilson-Brown didn’t get a single appearance at Kilmarnock following a January move north.