Leicester City’s midfield options after signing Boubakary Soumare

Leicester City have completed the signing of Boubakary Soumare, the French International, having a scarily good midfield next season. Here is what it looks like.

From box-to-box to advanced playmakers and disruptive midfielders, Leicester City will have among the most balanced midfields in the league. Adding depth and a winning mentality to an already strong midfield.

In this piece, I’ll go through each midfield position and analyse the options available. Of course, I shall also decide who I’d pick in my starting XI.

To start us off, have a look at this from LCFC Live and divide them up into the three forces of play: defensive, progressive, and playmaking.

Leicester City: the defensive force

One name stands above the rest as the best out and out defensive midfielder at the King Power. His name is Wilfred Ndidi. He is an absolute beast and statistically amongst the best in Europe.

Using Sofascore, he has 3.7 tackles and 2.3 interceptions per Premier League game. Those are insane statistics. On top of this, using SmarterScout, we can see that Ndidi is perfectly suited to the role of a sole DM. His quantity and quality of tackling is what stands out among every other DM in Europe bar N’golo Kante.

Covering him shall be Nampalys Mendy and Hamza Choudhury, with Boubakary Soumare also being a decent CDM.

Mendy brings better ball retention and link up play, but lacks progression in his game. Meanwhile, Choudhury brings energy and disruption. These two play best as a double DM pivot. Choudhury would bring the progression, Mendy the possessive force in midfield.

Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester side will also have the choice of playing Soumare further back. This would take advantage of his disruptive capacity, though it would also take away his progressive attributes. Soumare’s dribbling through midfield has been brilliant this season.

So in reality, the King Power outfit can decide between two systems. The first is suited to Ndidi and the sole DM, whereas the second would be suited to a double pivot of Choudhury and Mendy. 4-3-3 versus 3-4-3 in effect.

The progressive force

It is football 101 that a team has got to progress the ball up into the opposition’s defensive third and construct a goal scoring opportunity. On top of this, you have to take advantage of transitions – that time when you are not quite attacking or defending.

That is where your progressive and possessive midfielders come into play. For Leicester City, there is one name which has to be at the front of every fan’s mind. His name is Youri Tielemans, and he is the best transitional midfielder we have.

I need not inform you of his qualities, but I will. With world class passing, defensive determination, and an insane level of consistency, our ‘Starman’ sets the bar high. If you need to get the ball to someone, get it to Tielemans first.

However, previously there has been no real backup for his position. If he is injured, you need to bring in Choudhury to do a similar but different role, knocking the understanding each player has of the system.

Now, Brendan Rodgers will have Boubakary Soumare at his disposal. A young, energetic, disruptive, and ball retaining transitional midfielder. The stylistic difference between the two is the preference of the latter to progress the ball by dribbling into the opposition’s defensive third, then offloading the ball to other players.

Having the option to change the role, while maintaining the core elements of Tielemans’ role, allows the King Power side to defend and attack well, taking better advantage of the transition to create counter attacks.

Of course, there is one more player. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. At Luton Town, he established himself as a high-pressing, progressive No.6 and No.8 hybrid. He would put in necessary tackles, though not always successful, and pass the ball quickly up field.

That is Tielemans to a tee. He will need more development, but will be a direct like-for-like player when the opportunity arrives.

The playmaking force

Leicester City have one of the best playmakers in the Premier League in their roster. His name is James Maddison. From eight goals and five assist to his creative dribbling and ball retention. This is the man we want in midfield.

Alongside him, the Foxes can deploy the penetrative Dennis Praet and calm Ayoze Perez. They bring different options to the table.

Praet is not as creative as Maddison or Perez, but put him against a low-block and in his natural role, and you will see what we saw at the beginning of the 20/21 season. He penetrates defences by working with wingers to create opportunities for others.

Perez on the other hand has bundles of creativity, but lacks the penetration or potency to score from the positions he gets into. He is a player best in the centre and used to get others involved.

Do not forget that these three have all been used and all performed well when they have played in their roles in a system they understand. Maddison was a goal scorer from the half spaces. Praet the penetrator, and Perez the calm orchestrator.

How they will shape up

Leicester City will choose between a return to the 4-3-3 or maintaining the 3-4-1-2. In the first, they can make use of the traditional: Ndidi, Tielemans, and Maddison. With Mendy, Soumare, and Praet offering the best rotational option.

In the latter, Tielemans and Soumare are paired together, with Praet ahead of them. They will need to link up with Patson Daka and Jamie Vardy as wide strikers. Rotational options would be Choudhury and ‘KDH’ with Perez ahead of them. This midfield is seriously scary for next season’s opponents. Bar any sales which might happen.