After a promising start to Brendan Rodgers’ tenure last season, Leicester City are building for a top six finish. The club find themselves in a strong position going into the new season.
Leicester City are Ready to Challenge for European Place
Thrifty Signings
£30 million is not small money, but by Premier League standards the signing of Ayoze Perez is a relative bargain. A proven goalscorer at Newcastle United, Perez is a handy acquisition.
Rodgers spoke last season of his desire to find a goal scoring wide man, and in Perez he may have found that. His twelve goals last season came for a side who struggled for goals. Playing in a team with more creative talent could see that number balloon up.
It has been a long search for an effective back up to Jamie Vardy: many big money signings have come and gone. The move for a player proven in England offers a refreshing change of direction.
Even more impressive is the impending signing of Youri Tielemans. Leicester were anticipating competition for the Belgian, who excelled last season. However, Tielemans arrived in Leicester to discuss personal terms this week.
At a fee of £40 million, Tielemans represents superb value for money. His sell on fee in the future will likely be double this. Regaining the services of Tielemans is a huge coup for the club. He was involved in seven goals in his thirteen league appearances on loan and struck up an excellent relationship with Jamie Vardy and James Maddison.
The talented James Justin has also been brought in from Luton Town. By making these signings early, the new faces will have a full off-season to integrate into the team.
Talent Retention
To date, the anticipated raid of Leicester’s talent has not occurred. There has been little to no interest in Ben Chilwell and James Maddison, both of whom were linked with moves away.
Although Harry Maguire is being publicly coveted by Manchester United, they are yet to meet the £90 million transfer fee demand. Should Maguire depart for World record money, Leicester have researched replacements: Potential moves for Burnley’s James Tarkowski and Brighton’s Lewis Dunk are both being considered.
Indeed, should Maguire depart, the in house talent may suffice. Jonny Evans outperformed Maguire last season, while Filip Benkovic impressed on loan at Celtic under Rodgers. Whilst Leicester are keen to retain Maguire, his departure would not be a disaster.
A Top Six in Transition
There has never been a better opportunity to penetrate the top six. Manchester City and Liverpool are set for another title challenging season and will likely be joined by the strengthening Tottenham Hotspur. However, behind them are three teams in transition.
Chelsea enjoyed success last season. However, with a new manager and a transfer embargo as well as the departure of Eden Hazard, they could be vulnerable. The Frank Lampard gamble is by no means a certain success and it could take time to adapt to his style.
The transfer embargo, as well as Lampard’s philosophy, is likely to see a higher number of young players earning playing time at Stamford Bridge. This could see a prolonged bedding in period and less predictable performances.
Elsewhere, Arsenal are also in a potentially difficult spot. Unai Emery‘s debut season showed promise. However, a lack of funds for investment and a defensive unit desperate for refreshing could see another frustrating season for Arsenal.
With high earners like Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan proving difficult to offload, bringing in targets is proving difficult. Meanwhile, Manchester United are in an equally difficult spot.
They have money to spend, but selling clubs know this. Faced with the potential departure of Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku, United will boast multiple new signings next season. Integrating new talent takes time and is not guaranteed to succeed. The United rebuild is a multi-year project and in the interim leaves them vulnerable for falling behind.
Conclusion
Leicester City are quietly having a very strong summer and are shaping up to prove tough competition for the top six next season. Brendan Rodgers has identified targets and bought early.
Departures have not occurred to date, but even if players do leave, replacements have been lined up. Several members of the current top six are vulnerable this season; Leicester City hope to be ready to take advantage of this.
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