Foxes of Leicester
Fansided

How Leicester could line-up next season with ideal transfers

By Joshua Holland

Leicester City (Photo by Richard Heathcote /Getty Images)
Leicester City (Photo by Richard Heathcote /Getty Images) /
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Nicolas Tagliafico of Ajax (Photo by Erwin Spek/Soccrates/Getty Images)
Nicolas Tagliafico of Ajax (Photo by Erwin Spek/Soccrates/Getty Images) /

Defence – Ricardo Pereira, Caglar Soyuncu, Jonny Evans, Nicolas Tagliafico

Let’s start with the obvious. Ricardo Pereira is vital to this backline and, in fact, the team. His five-goal contribution in 28 appearances doesn’t shout ‘amazing’, but the Portuguese’s contribution and the impact that was missing was clear to see when he suffered a serious knee injury against Aston Villa and missed the remaining nine games.

James Justin did fine and will certainly be involved with the club participating in four competitions, but Pereira was one of the instrumental players last season and is a fan favourite amongst the King Power following.

Despite interest from Barcelona, Caglar Soyuncu should be at Leicester City next season due to the lack of funds at the Spanish giants. The Turkish defender missed only four games last season and became another fan favourite with his spirited performances.

Soyuncu’s performance improved as the season went on. His mistake at Old Trafford in September was quickly resolved and his ball-playing capability is one of the best in the league.

Unlike Soyuncu, who broke onto the scene last season, Jonny Evans showed his experience last season with his presence alongside his inexperienced partner. The Northern Irish-international turns 33 in January and this could be his final season playing week-in-week-out.

Evans’ experience of the game he has gathered from his time at Manchester United, West Brom and the Northern Ireland national team will help the other defenders, including Filip Benkovic.

With Benkovic returning from his loan spell at Bristol City, the competition will be tough in the heart of the defence. Another signing could help with squad depth and I would like to see James Tarkowski arrive.

Like stated above, the home-grown ruling that the Europa League provides will have to be in the thoughts of the recruitment team and Tarkowski will do no harm to that. The England defender was named in WhoScored.com’s European team of the year after appearing in every minute of Burnley’s Premier League campaign and impressed for the second year running.

The left-back topic has been brewing since after the January transfer window. It looks like Ben Chilwell will leave Leicester for Chelsea this summer, meaning the Foxes must recruit a replacement for the Englishman.

I previously wrote about my expression to bring Nicolas Tagliafico from Ajax in to replace Chilwell. His experience of playing the type of football Rodgers has brought to the club will suit the Argentinian, plus he has experience in European competitions.

Elsewhere, Jamal Lewis from Norwich could look a likely arrival and after being linked with Kostas Tskimikas, the Greek looks certain to move to Anfield and be Andrew Robertson’s back-up.