Leicester City’s transfer rumour round-up: defensive targets
Leicester City will have a busy transfer window, as they look to bring in experience and strength to their defensive line. Here are the targets.
After the dust settled on the Champions League heartbreak, Foxes supporters declared squad depth to be the key reason why Leicester City failed to secure UCL football from a strong position.
At the back, the departure of club captain Wes Morgan, fan favourite Christian Fuchs to Charlotte FC in the MLS, and aging of Jonny Evans forces the King Power side to bring in experience and strength to complement their existing backline.
As reported by the Athletic, Ryan Bertrand has signed a one-year contract with Leicester City to become our second choice left-footed left-back. The deal has not been confirmed, as Brendan Rodgers’ outfit continue to look for more permanent options as well.
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Leicester City’s targets
For fullbacks, there are few targets. The King Power side already have three fit fullbacks, with the superb James Justin to return some time next season. However, the left-back role can only really be filled successfully by two young left-footed players: Luke Thomas and the U23 Shane Flynn.
Robin Gosens was touted as the priority target, though that deal has fallen through since LCFC failed to achieve UCL qualification. A more permanent target to compete with Thomas is Nuno Mendes.
Mendes has been brilliant for Sporting CP in the Portuguese league and is rated very highly across Europe. He will have a major move ahead of him either this season or next. The only pitfall is that his inclusion would shut the door for young fullbacks already at the club to make the step up.
At centre-back, the Foxes look to provide depth with Jonny Evans, and prepare for replacing him. Beyond that, there will need to be depth for both Caglar Soyuncu and Wesley Fofana.
As per the Athletic, personal terms have been agreed over the week with James Tarkowski – the fan favourite option – though Burnley remain stubborn to let the impressive defender leave Turf Moor.
Enquiries have been made for several targets. Jonathan Tah and Ozan Kabak appear to be the favourites, where Merih Demiral of Juventus and Nathan Collins of Stoke City are also targets for the club should either ‘Tarky’ or ‘Tah’ not join.
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Foxes supporters are also keen in RC Lens’ Loic Bade. The French youth defender has had an immense presence in the Lens backline, providing a similar role to Wesley Fofana. Leicester are interested, but no formal discussions have been started.