Leicester City’s lack of transfer activity hardly worrying
The summer transfer window has already arrived and most of England’s elite – including some who are trying to be – are tirelessly preparing for the Premier League’s festivities. There’s money being recklessly thrown around, £120 million bids being made for 19-year olds, managers tapping up and agents basically going haywire. You can just sense that it’s July and that Europe’s richest league is about to return.
Somewhere in the middle of this mess lie Leicester City, who, having only gone downhill after their Premier League success, are still relaxing – at least, that’s how it appears to be at the moment. The Foxes returned to training today with only one new signing in the bag, Harry Maguire, which, though it’s an excellent addition, has hardly placated the set of supporters who are demanding additions to the squad.
After a largely underwhelming campaign last season both on and off the field, the restlessness over the silence at the King Power Stadium is quite understandable. City have some obvious weaknesses – they’ve had a few for some time – and they need to be addressed as soon as is possible, but don’t forget, the transfer window is still in its nascent stages and there remains no cause for worry at the moment.
Oftentimes, a lot of clubs can fall for the trap and buy for the sake of buying just to pacify the fans. One might argue that’s exactly what Leicester City did last season and the rest, as most of us can agree, was misery. It’s because of the pressure from the fans as well as the added burden of the UEFA Champions League that Claudio Ranieri ended up shooting himself in the foot.
There were wasteful arrivals to bolster what was an already strong attack, while few measures were taken to strengthen the spine of the team. Irrespective of the what the side achieved the season before, this commitment to an attacking brand of football was a plain and simple blunder.
The Foxes’ supporters should be happy that the club isn’t getting too much ahead of itself this time around. They have operated in the market with more common sense and patience so far, something that’s evident from the players they’ve been linked to, namely Ben Gibson, Gaston Ramirez, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Vicente Iborra, Kelechi Iheanacho and George Thomas.
It’s the right set of players in terms of value for money, ability and the impact they would make at Leicester. There’s no panic buying here – it’s smart, it’s shrewd and more importantly, there’s an air of calm to go with the pursuits – full credit to Craig Shakespeare for his patient approach. The waiting game, mind you, is surely worth it.
Another reason why Leicester City aren’t utterly desperate for new signings is the development of young players like Ben Chilwell and Demarai Gray, both being capable of making the respective positions their own if given the necessary playing time. Anyone who has followed the two England internationals closely would know they are the real deal.
Were City to resist the temptation of spending too much and settled with only two or three high-class signings, say, Ihenacho, Thomas and Iborra/Gibson, the transfer window will still be deemed a success. As well as representing stability, it’ll also reflect the club’s ability to buy and buy wisely. Remember, it’s not the quantity, it’s the quality, and Leicester City are hungry for the latter.