Foxes of Leicester
Fansided

The formation, transfer template that Leicester should follow

By Dominic Wells

Brendan Rodgers of Leicester City (Photo by Stephen Pond/Getty Images)
Brendan Rodgers of Leicester City (Photo by Stephen Pond/Getty Images) /
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Filip Benkovic of Bristol City (Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images)
Filip Benkovic of Bristol City (Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images) /

Secondly, the Foxes are in desperate need of a centre-back. During Project Restart in the Premier League, Leicester City’s lack of defensive cover was highlighted, all it took was a couple of injuries and suspensions. Looking ahead to next season, and the added fixture congestion of the Europa League, it’ll be worth it’s weight in gold if Rodgers can find an affordable option, with the potential to grow into a starting centre-back for the Foxes.

Currently, Jonny Evans and Çağlar Söyüncü are the main starters in the heart of defence. The two back-up options are veteran, club-captain Wes Morgan, and Filip Benković after returning from his loan spell with Bristol City. Evans (32-years-old) and Morgan (36-years-old) are both in the latter stages of their careers, whilst Söyüncü (24-years-old) and

Benković (23-years-old) are in their growing phases. I believe another young, exciting centre-back would benefit Leicester City, not only in the short-term, but also in the long-run. It’s worth noting it’s imperative this centre-back is comfortable with the ball at his feet, and this will form as one of the major parameters to condense the list of potential incomings.

In my opinion, the best options for the Foxes are; Abdou Diallo, Jean-Clair Todibo, and Panagiotis Retsos. The latter is the only one of the three not to be linked with Leicester City this season, but all of them are impressive ball-playing centre-backs, which is an important faucet of Rodgers’ defensive players.

Abdou Diallo of Paris Saint Germain is the best of the three, his passing numbers for this season are only eclipsed by Aymeric Laporte and John Stones, in all of Europe’s top five leagues. His pass completion rate is 92.9%, from an average of 74.14 passes per 90 minutes of football – which is exceptional. When looking at the current Foxes starting centre-back’s, Jonny Evans has a pass completion rate of 88% and averages 55.53 passes per 90 minutes, while Çağlar Söyüncü has a pass completion rate of 90.9% and averaged 60.39 passes per 90 minutes.