Fourteen Leicester City January transfer rumours and what happened next
The transfer rumour mill hasn’t produced quite so many Leicester City links as is typical for a January window, but perhaps that’s because of how quiet it’s been at the King Power Stadium.
So far, just one player has arrived in £3m right-back Woyo Coulibaly. But here are 14 other players to have had their names listed in connection with City, and what became of them this month.
Patrick Wimmer
The newest name on the list is that of Wolfsburg’s Austrian international winger Patrick Wimmer. Reports in Germany say City are keen on a January deal, and would be looking to steal a march on the likes of AC Milan and Juventus, who are eyeing him for a summer transfer. But at a supposed €20m, he’s likely too expensive for City.
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Chuba Akpom
As quickly as City were linked with Ajax’s former Middlesbrough striker, they were ruled to have ‘dropped out’ of the race. It now looks like he’s heading to Lille.
Nasser Djiga
Media in Serbia had expected the Red Star Belgrade and Burkina Faso centre-back to leave this month, and now they have been eliminated from the Champions League, a transfer feels more possible. However, City are not the only club to have been linked with the 22-year-old. Nottingham Forest have too.
Tariq Lamptey
Links to the Brighton full-back, who scored a terrific goal against City last month, only emerged after Coulibaly had been signed. Another right-back, when there are other pressing issues in the team, would make little sense.
Thomas Kristensen
Why have just two Danish international defenders when you can have three? Udinese’s Thomas Kristensen was linked to City at the start of the window and, at 6ft 6in tall, would have brought a great physical presence to van Nistelrooy’s back-line. But talk of a deal has gone quiet, and now Wolves are moving for the 23-year-old.
Strahinja Pavlovic
Almost as soon as the big Serbian centre-back was linked to City, he started playing for AC Milan again. He had been out of favour, but injuries saw him come back into contention, and he kept a clean sheet in the Champions League before setting up an added-time winner in Serie A. It’s not just City who have been attributed with interest though. There’s a host of clubs supposedly keen.
Cyriaque Irie
The teenage winger, currently playing for Troyes in Ligue 2, looks like he has a very bright future ahead of him, and looks like the sort of player that City should be signing. But right now, Lens seem most likely to sign the 19-year-old.
Juma Bah
He came out of nowhere to star for Real Valladolid and just a handful of matches had him linked with big moves. In the end, he paid his own release clause to get a move to Manchester City and has since joined Lens on loan.
Abdukodir Khusanov
Lens needed a new centre-back after selling Abdukodir Khusanov to Man City. The Uzbek international had been linked with a switch to Leicester prior to joining the Premier League champions and enduring a difficult debut against Chelsea.
Valentin Gomez
A title-winner in Argentina last year, big things are expected of Valentin Gomez, and he looked like being an ideal signing for City at the back. First, it looked like they would miss out to Brazilian side Cruzeiro, and now it looks like he could head to Udinese. But, for the time being, he is still a Velez Sarsfield player.
Toby Collyer
Links to a Manchester United player were always going to emerge given van Nistelrooy’s connections. But a loan for Toby Collyer doesn’t really make sense for City with the team well-stocked in midfield, and with Collyer now getting game-time under Ruben Amorim.
Marko Dmitrovic
Steve Cooper had wanted a new goalkeeper and there were suggestions that City could again look for a new man between the sticks amid Mads Hermansen’s injury problems. But while Serbian international Marko Dmitrovic was linked, Jakub Stolarczyk’s performances and Hermansen’s return have lessened the need for reinforcements there.
Hiroki Sekine
Linked with a switch to City, there was excitement when Kashiwa Reysol announced that right-back Hiroki Sekine would be transferring to Europe. Instead, he went to Reims in France.
Kyle Walker-Peters
Out of contract in the summer, there were suggestions that Southampton may prefer to sell England international Kyle Walker-Peters than lose him for nothing in a few months’ time. It now seems like the full-back will remain with the Saints, who would surely have been reluctant to sell to a relegation rival anyway.
