Leicester City continue to identify positions for improvement. With this impressive winger and an exciting midfielder joining the list of transfer targets.
Leicester City are reportedly making enquiries for Jeremie Boga and Samuele Ricci to bolster their attacking options. The King Power side do not want to fall short due to squad depth next season for the third season running.
Here is what those players have to offer Leicester, and our verdict on each one over the other options available for those positions. It is important to note that we cannot mention literally every single transfer target for those positions, as the lists would get far too large and complicated.
Leicester City’s hunt for a winger
The hunt has begun. After the injury to Harvey Barnes, the sale of Demarai Gray, and no clear options coming through the youth ranks good enough to help the Foxes maintain a top four challenge, the recruitment team are looking for at least one winger this summer.
Former Chelsea players are usually a goldmine for rejected talent. From Mohammed Salah to Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne. Ridiculously good players have been easily let go by the London-based Russian-run club.
One such player is Sassuolo resident Jeremie Boga – a 24-year-old left-winger. He has been impressive in his time there, and has proven himself to be of great quality.
Here is how Boga compares to Barnes, and some of Brendan Rodgers’ other transfer targets. We are using the Squawka comparison matrix to get our statistics.
Also involved in this comparison are Jonathan Ikone, Daniel James, and Ademola Lookman.
Jeremie Boga has had a disrupted season, with injuries harming his playtime. He ended up playing only 1,790 minutes, in comparison to the injured Barnes’ 1,949.
In the previous season, Boga was prolific, scoring 11 with eight coming off his right-foot. This season, he has scored only four, with three coming off his left foot. Barnes is the most prolific winger despite his injury at nine goals.
Ikone and Lookman both match Boga in terms of goals scored. Ikone scores most from the right with his left foot, Boga from the left with his left foot, Lookman from the right with his right foot.
They offer different styles. Lookman is more of an actual winger, attempting more crosses (134) than all the others combined (65) and makes a lot more recoveries and tackles.
Boga only has two assists, which for his playtime is still low. By comparison, Ikone has five from less progressive passes, meaning his passes are of higher quality.
Lookman created the most chances of all the options, but also played 1,000 more minutes than Boga and was one of the best players in that Fulham team.
Daniel James has not played enough to really feature in the statistics. What we can say is that James is much faster and a right-winger, so would complement the pace and danger of Barnes with a like-minded player.
I would recommend Boga. Though he is more expensive than any of the other options – probably around £35 million – he is an excellent rotation option for Barnes.
I would also recommend either Ikone or Lookman. Ikone can be got for cheap as French clubs are suffering from financial issues at the moment, where Lookman might cost a bit more though is Premier League proven.
Leicester City’s next midfield
We know that Leicester are in for Boubakary Soumaré – a defensive-minded midfielder – and are looking for an attacking midfielder to add depth.
Samuele Ricci is an in-demand Italian youngster, an attacking midfielder with obvious talent. But is he ready to offer the Foxes his all? We judged him against James Maddison, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and my favourite – Michael Olise.
Ricci has not played every minute of football, so I’ll temper my expectations. He has scored just two goals in Serie B, which is not the greatest of leagues, and has only four assists.
By comparison, in a tougher league, ‘KDH’ has three goals and six assists, where Olise has seven goals and 12 assists. As I said, he has not played as much as he would have liked, but he clearly is not so prolific yet.
KDH is the most progressive and high-pressing of our options, and he is already at the club, after returning from his loan at Luton Town. His forward passing is superb, and should have expected more assists from the quality of his passing.
Ricci is in a similar situation. He completed almost as many progressive passes as Madders and should have picked up more assists. It comes down to the forwards not finishing the chances he created.
So, I can pass judgement almost immediately. He would be a great addition to our development squad, learning alongside Thanawat Suengchitthawon and maybe Sidnei Tavares if he stays. A loan move to a championship club would be beneficial for him.
In the meantime, KDH will provide plenty of cover unless Dennis Praet leaves. In which case, Olise should be pursued as the primary rotation option with Madders. Ricci should not be seen as a senior first or second team signing.