Who’s next for Leicester City
By Josh Curnock
Midfielders
Leicester City are expected to line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation next season and Claude Puel faces a tough decision on who to axe from his squad with only N’didi and perhaps Adrien Silva (29) the only central midfielders in the squad that are safe from being sold.
Vicente Iborra (30), Andy King (29), Matty James (26) and Nampalys Mendy (25) face an uncertain future at Leicester with the Foxes needing to move on players surplus to requirements.
The midlands club have also been linked with Juventus midfielder Stefano Sturaro suggesting Claude Puel is not happy with his options in central midfield. Leicester could certainly do worse than to make a move for Jack Wilshere after he announced he will be leaving Arsenal this summer.
It is widely expected that former PFA player of the year Riyad Mahrez will be leaving the club with Man City his likely destination. Much will depend on the transfer fee Mahrez leaves for as the clubs haggle over Mahrez’s value.
Leicester will need to replace the Algerian should he leave with Felipe Anderson of Lazio , and Mohammed Elyounoussi of Basel linked in recent weeks.
Marc Albrighton (28) will be the only experienced winger in the squad should Mahrez leave with Demarai Gray and Fousseni Diabate the other options available to Claude Puel. Demarai Gray has been linked with Lazio this week with the Italian club looking for replacements to out going Felipe Anderson.
This suggests Leicester will be targeting the wide midfielder positions to strengthen before the transfer window closes.
Related Story: PUEL MAY CHANGE TO 4-3-3
James Maddison joined Leicester this week in a reported £24 million move from Norwich and will be expected to play a huge part next season. He predominately plays behind the striker and with Kelechi Iheanacho (21) and Shinji Okazaki (32) also able to play that position we shouldn’t expect any more activity in that area.
Strikers
Jamie Vardy (31) is nailed on first choice striker at Leicester in a formation that mainly uses just the one striker, therefore leaving several other options unsure where they feature in Claude Puel’s plans.
Islam Slimani (30) , Leonardo Ulloa (31) and Nigerian hero Ahmed Musa (25) are the players under threat in the striking department – Musa can operate as a left winger as well as an out-and-out striker.
4 strikers do not go into 1 position and so we should expect to see some movement going out before seeing any more strikers coming in.
Conclusion
The next area of the team that needs to be strengthened whether Riyad Mahrez stays or goes are the wide attacking areas. Although the Foxes have some young talented players in that part of the team, it is an area of the team that needs to be improved immediately.
Without Mahrez in the team, Leicester can look devoid of creativity and flair and therefore if he was to leave it will be a huge task to replace him. With him in the team it would be of great benefit to have another quality option to take the pressure off him too.
It is encouraging to be linked with the likes of Felipe Anderson and Mohammed Elyounoussi as both possess some great qualities however it remains to be seen how strong Leicester’s interest in these players are.