Insight: James Justin set to be Leicester City’s first summer signing

In what promises to be a pivotal summer transfer window for Leicester City, their first acquisition looks like it will be a versatile full back.

This week it was reported that the Foxes were in pole position to sign Luton Town defender, James Justin, intending to use him as an understudy to Ricardo Pereira.

The 21-year-old also operates as left-back, and can potentially step into Christian Fuchs’ shoes as Ben Chilwell’s second when the Austrian inevitably departs Leicester in 2020 to join his family in New York.

£7.5 million is the touted fee for the Luton-born youngster, who has just one year left of his contract.

Justin has all the makings of a quality, modern full-back. In 53 appearances this season, across all competitions, he has registered three goals and nine assists for the Hatters, as they were crowned champions of English Football League One.

With two England under 20 caps under his belt, Justin will add to City’s young, home-grown cohort, but is there anyone currently in Leicester’s development squad that can step up and act as a second string full-back for the first XI?

In short, no. Most of the prospects used as a right full-back for Leicester’s under 23’s are primarily central defenders. The likes of Josh Knight, Darnell Johnson and Alex Pascanu can all operate at right-back, but they are all naturally geared towards playing at the heart of a defence. Leicester need a natural full-back to challenge someone as quality as Pereira, and Justin’s form throughout the 2018/19 campaign suggests that he could be the best man for the job.

If the Luton man hits the ground running at the King Power, he could assert himself as the Foxes’ first choice right-back, which would see Pereira moved into a more advanced position. The Portuguese international has been used sparingly on the wing this season to make use of his abundant attacking threat, and could be an effective offensive presence next season out wide for Leicester.

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There has been some controversy surrounding City’s search for a new full-back, which also includes Chelsea youngster, Reece James. James impressed immensely while on loan at Wigan Athletic this season. However, recruiting from Chelsea would be far more difficult than Luton. The Blues will be reluctant to sell due to their looming transfer ban and are a much wealthier club. This statement further explains the link:

"Both Justin and James were featured in a leaked recruitment document at Celtic detailing the club’s transfer policy in April, when City’s new head of recruitment Lee Congerton was working for the Hoops. He has since joined Rodgers at City.Via Leicestershire Live"

Overall, signing Justin for a relatively modest fee would represent a good piece of business to begin a hopefully fruitful summer of transfers for Leicester City.