With Leicester City’s squad arguably its strongest ever, the Foxes should prioritise shipping out dead wood before making any new additions. Here’s FoL’s picks for a transfer out of the East Midlands this January.
When the January transfer window rolls around each year, the thoughts of most Premier League fans revolve around who their respective team might acquire that month to bolster their squad. Usually, Leicester City are no exception- but this season they’re a special case. Successive years of shrewd business by King Power and co. has resulted in a fantastic (if somewhat bloated) squad at the disposal of astute tactician Brendan Rodgers, with the need for new arrivals relatively low.
While I’m not at all suggesting that Leicester City acquire nobody this transfer window (a new striker is top of my shopping list), their top priority should be having a right good clear out of all the dead wood lingering around from transfer windows past, to hopefully make some space for more constructive, new arrivals. That said, here’s FoL’s top picks for a transfer out of the East Midlands this January.
Demarai Gray
I’m sure you’re all familiar by now with the seemingly endless saga of Demarai Gray. The Birmingham-born winger joined Leicester City five years ago this January with seemingly bags of talent, but unfortunately hasn’t really developed at all since then, evidently now completely out of favour with boss Brendan Rodgers.
Gray looked to be on the way out last April after unfollowing the entire LCFC squad on Instagram and changing his bio to the mysterious “shackles off, freedom”, but bizarrely remained a Leicester player. However, after rejecting a new contract recently with the apparent aim of forcing through a free transfer this summer, the Englishman’s time in Leicester looks to finally be over, so it’d be ideal if the Foxes could ship him out this January and recoup some of their investment.
Though it might be a challenge to sell the wide man with the knowledge that he can leave for free months later, Gray is not short of admirers in England and wider Europe. Tottenham, Leeds, Sheffield United, Marseille, Monaco and Benfica have all been linked with the winger as of late, so hopefully Leicester can cash in on that demand before he leaves for free.
Islam Slimani
I’ll be honest, sometimes I forget that Islam Slimani is even a Leicester City player. The Algerian arrived in the summer of 2016 for £28 million- a club record at the time, but has failed to live up to his hefty price tag, making just 36 appearances in his five years at the club (about £777,000 a game, if you do the maths).
This season, Slimani has only seen a meagre 19 minutes of action in a 0:1 loss to Aston Villa, and doesn’t appear to be part of the club’s plans going forward. With Kelechi Iheanacho the preferred deputy to Jamie Vardy and Ayoze Pérez also able to operate in the centre-forward role, it doesn’t look like Slimani will be getting another runout any time soon.
While I don’t think Slimani is a bad player at all, I think most Foxes fans had realised he wasn’t the right fit for the club within a year of his signing, so it’s a wonder to me that he’s still on the books five years on. While the striker certainly still possesses some good qualities, excelling at loan on Monaco last season, the lofty target man is now 32, so may be hard to shift. That said, I’m sure there is a team out there that could benefit from his qualities and put an end to his torrid time in the East Midlands.
Hamza Choudhury
A bit of a contentious one, I’m of the opinion that Leicester should sell their Loughborough-born destroyer– but only if they can get a good price for him. Choudhury was not long ago a wanted man by fellow high-flyers Southampton, and as a homegrown English national Leicester are bound to be able to squeeze out a few extra million for him.
Though the defensive midfielder is only age-23, it’s important to note his role within Leicester’s squad and his current rate of progression. World-class Wilfred Ndidi is only one year Choudhury’s senior and holds an unshakable grasp on Leicester’s defensive midfield role, while Papy Mendy has proved himself a first-rate deputy in the Nigerian’s absence. With Dennis Praet and Youri Tielemans also capable of filling in at the base of midfield when required, it leaves Choudhury in an unfortunate predicament.
Once upon a time, I looked at the situation differently, but with the ever-increasing calibre of Leicester’s squad, I just don’t believe Choudhury‘s ceiling to be high enough anymore. This is no slight on the midfielder, as I believe he performs well when deployed for Leicester and could certainly do a job for other teams in the Premier League- but if a generous offer came through for him, I certainly wouldn’t say no.