Elsnik, aged 26, has been catching the eye of scouts at Euro 2024 as he helped Slovenia to draws with Denmark, Serbia and England to qualify from Group C and set up a last 16 knock-out tie against Portugal on Monday.

He has apparently been trailed by Lyon and Lazio, according to the Daily Mail, but it’s Leicester and fellow promoted side Southampton who are more likely to be able to afford a £5.5 million price tag – and he is expecting to make a switch over the next few weeks.

Elsnik joined Derby’s youth set up as a teenager and had loans at Swindon, Mansfield and Northampton but only made three cup appearances for his parent club before returning to Slovenia to join Olimpija Ljubljana.

He told former Leicester defender and Derby manager Gary Rowett last week: “When someone looks from outside and see you are playing a this level now they wonder how it’s possible considering where you’ve come from. But you go step by step and every day it becomes normal, it’s not like out of nowhere, out of Swindon, I’m thrown into this Portugal game. It becomes part of you.

“Slovenia have some good players and the core is still young. A couple of players it can be a springboard to make transfers to better leagues, better clubs, and they’re just going to grow there. If we keep this core and we develop like we should, in the future I hope it’s not going to be 24 years again for Slovenia to qualify for the Euros. I think we have a good chance of appearing regularly in these competitions.

“I hope I’m going to be one of those to go to a better club and they take good care of me to develop even more because I know I still have some room to grow. I’m not a finished product so bring it on.”

Elsnik didn’t play in the league for Derby but he made an impression on those around him.

Former teammate Darren Bent told the Guardian this summer. “He was brave, not scared to get on the ball or compete with senior members of the squad. We all saw in training he had the ability, a lovely left foot, [he could] manipulate the ball, score, but injuries killed him a little bit, he couldn’t quite get a run of games. It is great to see the rise he has had. I sent him a good-luck message before the tournament.”

Former Derby academy director Darren Wassall added: “He could handle the ball, his first touch was excellent. We always looked for players who could play forward. He knew where the next pass was going, his left foot excellent, he hardly gave the ball away and didn’t play safe. He was not worried about making a mistake; creative players probably give the ball away a little bit more because they’re trying to make things happen. You always felt his technical ability was better at a higher level, playing with better players.”