Andros Townsend a slight upgrade for Leicester City but won’t elevate club
While Andros Townsend is a slight improvement on Marc Albrighton and Demarai Gray, he won’t elevate Leicester City towards the Premier League top six.
While Leicester City are a particularly private club, everyone knows they are in the market for a winger. Oh, especially one that prefers to operate on the right. This is predominantly because of the successfully-replace-Riyad-Mahrez-saga being in full effect.
Replacements for the Algerian at the club procured through the transfer market haven’t been good enough. Whilst the idiom ‘jury still out’ provides account for Demarai Gray’s erratic and underwhelming performances, unfortunately the judgement on Rachid Ghezzal is unifying as undesirable. Expect the man from Algeria international to leave this summer.
A winger isn’t needed for the Foxes – the vacancy is more aptly assessed as that of a support striker. Which is how this writer would describe Liverpool’s Mo Salah or Chelsea’s Eden Hazard for example. Obviously Leicester aren’t in the market for either of those superstars; though City can make them!
Why a different system is used is mainly because main man up front Jamie Vardy doesn’t require the crosses that a reliable yet old-fashioned type like Marc Albrighton supplies. With modern fullbacks now attributed with the duties of forward running and crossing.
In turn, the Foxes’ movement and style revolves around the ball players in advanced midfield positions – Youri Tielemans and James Maddison. Therefore a three-pronged attack is more justified; so goal-getters are necessary.
Leicester City transfer rumour
This weekend The Mirror reported a link between Leicester and this winger:
"Townsend transfer swoop as Foxes plot £14m bidLeicester manager Brendan Rodgers will test Crystal Palace’s resolve to keep Andros Townsend.The winger has had another impressive season at Selhurst Park as Palace finished the Premier League season in 12th place.And with just two years left to run on his contract, he is seen as a good option for the Foxes as Rodgers gets a first transfer window to start shaping his squad.Townsend, 27, is valued at around £14million — similar to the figure Palace paid Newcastle to sign him three years ago."
Though Townsend has been attaining many admirers, from fans to professional observers, he has only managed 14 finishes in 124 outings for the South London outfit. Meaning he does not fit the bill for Foxes of Leicester’s notion of a support forward. Though his assisting is ever so slightly more impressive.
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It is going to be extremely difficult for the King Power team to find and execute the purchase of a top quality wingman or right-forward to fit the bill of cracking the top six without breaking the bank. Yet there are some around, and are out-of-favour, Xherdan Shaqiri being one. Additionally, signing Youri Tielemans would deplete Leicester’s funds and Shaqiri cost the Reds an astonishingly low £12 million.
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If City do pursue and indeed capture Townsend, it will be another positive boost to the squad. Yes, the Foxes could do a lot worse than the Palace player who has four England caps and one national goal; but he won’t elevate Brendan Rodgers’ side to where it wants to be. Leicester Mercury is correct when it says the 27-year-old would add: “Pace and experience… quick, agile and dangerous”; however FoL do not believe he is ‘top six material’.