Leicester City transfer state of play with replacement for 'massive loss' needed
It took until January 26, but a winter-window arrival has finally played for Leicester City. Woyo Coulibaly made his debut in the win over Tottenham, the French right-back coming on for the final few minutes having been included in a matchday squad for the first time since his £3m switch from Parma.
The consensus among supporters is that Coulibaly alone would not be an adequate month of business for the situation City are in, nor would it be fair on manager Ruud van Nistelrooy. The Dutchman has continually insisted there would be funds and support available from the hierarchy, but the limited business conducted so far does not appear to back that up.
At the midway point of the campaign, it looks to be a three-way battle between City, Wolves and Ipswich for survival, with two of the trio to fall into Championship. City’s relegation rivals have been busier and look like being so over the next few days too.
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Wolves have brought in £17m centre-back Emmanuel Agbadou and are in talks over Lens’ Kevin Danso, which could be an even more expensive deal. They’ve also opened discussions over Ukrainian international midfielder Volodymyr Brazhko, albeit he would likely be a replacement, rather than a partner, for Mario Lemina.
Ipswich, meanwhile, have spent £20m on Jaden Philogene and have signed defender Ben Godfrey and attacking midfielder Julio Enciso on loan. They’re not done there. They want another striker, potentially another right-sided player if Wes Burns’ injury is serious, and maybe even a new midfielder on top of that.
Signing new players is not guaranteed to push a team up the division, but new recruits can provide fresh impetus at struggling clubs. City should know that, given the transformative impact Robert Huth had on City’s fortunes in 2014-15.
Where City could strengthen
While there have been a few rumours here and there, there have not been any prominent links to emerge around City in a while. There’s now just five days left until the deadline.
If they can only get one piece of business done, a flying winger feels like it would be van Nistelrooy’s preference. He’s been tight-lipped on City’s priorities this month, but did say they wanted replacements for injured players – hence signing Coulibaly with Ricardo Pereira out – and also said Abdul Fatawu was a “massive loss”.
The numbers reflect that. The Ghanaian hasn’t played since early November and yet he’s still completed more take-ons than any other City player this season. Per 90 minutes, he leads the club for progressive carries, carries into the final third, carries into the penalty area, and touches in the attacking third.
Without him, City are simply missing the best player they had at making himself an outlet in attacking areas and dribbling the ball forward at speed and beating defenders. Stephy Mavididi may be a bigger goal threat and Facundo Buonanotte may be excellent in really tight areas, but neither have the raw speed that Fatawu could bring.
Beyond that, a new centre-back looks to be the most important area for recruitment. City have still only kept one clean sheet all Premier League season, and none since van Nistelrooy took charge.
There have been links to strikers. But while it’s something City do need to think about in the long term with Jamie Vardy’s age and Patson Daka’s continued struggles to establish himself as a consistent Premier League performer, it does not feel as pressing as a winger or a centre-back.
There was consideration over a new goalkeeper, but Mads Hermansen is not too far away now, and van Nistelrooy seems pleased with Jakub Stolarczyk. Steve Cooper had wanted a left-back, but Coulibaly and James Justin’s versatility means that’s not as urgent anymore either.
As for how City will sign those players, loans look more likely than buys, given the costs involved. For now, a Premier League loan is out of the question, but City can still bring in players from overseas.
Who could leave
As for outgoings, much of the business City will do has already been done. Tom Cannon has been recalled and sold, while Hamza Choudhury, well down the pecking order in midfield, has been loaned out too.
Coulibaly’s arrival perhaps opens the door for Luke Thomas to leave, and there has been talk of interest from Hoffenheim. But while Caleb Okoli has been prominently linked with a return to Italy, any move feels unlikely unless City get a centre-back in first.
Of course, Odsonne Edouard's situation remains one to solve too. The loan striker can't even get on the bench at the moment and game-time is unlikely throughout the rest of the season, while he sits behind Vardy and Daka in the pecking order.
He's currently taking up one of the two permitted Premier League loan slots and so moving him on would be helpful for City. It seemed they had hoped another side would buy him from Crystal Palace, and so solving their issue. But they may have to bite the bullet and pay to cancel his loan contract so that they can get a new loan signing through the door.
As always, loans for youngsters are not out of the question either. A place at an EFL club for a few months would probably do Will Alves the world of good now that chances of first-team football at City look slim.
One particular positive is that many of City's leading players to do not appear to be the subject of transfer interest, which is a problem at Wolves with top scorer Matheus Cunha. A departure for Wilfred Ndidi amid supposed Monaco interest was shut down by van Nistelrooy last week.
