Leicester: Rodgers on Foxes’ next transfer move after horror injury

After the win over Villarreal was overshadowed by injury to Wesley Fofana, Leicester City are forced to bring in new players. Here is what you need to know.

It was early in the second half against Villarreal CF in a pre-season friendly, and Leicester City had just scored their third goal of the night through Ayoze Perez being in the right place at the right time.

After that, Fer Nino committed a terrible scissor challenge on Foxes’ wonderkid Wesley Fofana. I continue to pray for the quick and complete recovery of Fofana from his injury.

As reported by LeicestershireLive, the French defender will be out for some time: the exact parameters are not yet determined as Fofana requires additional scans.

Coupling with this is the continued absence of Jonny Evans. Injured at the backend of last season, his foot injury has not fully recovered and he will not be present before at earliest the Wolverhampton Wanderers season opener.

Leicester City forced into signing

There exists three options for Brendan Rodgers’ side. First, they could do nothing. The King Power outfit would substitute Filip Benkovic for Fofana and Evans, while Daniel Amartey, Wilfred Ndidi, and others could cover at centre-back until Evans is back.

Secondly, Rodgers could move towards a back three, using Ryan Bertrand, Timothy Castagne (when available), ‘Benko’, Caglar Soyuncu, Ndidi, etc. as the rotational options to form a back line.

The final option is the choice Leicester City have already made. As stated in the above LeicestershireLive piece, Brendan Rodgers confirmed the Foxes will dip into the transfer market.

They will look for a first teamer to eventually replace Evans and produce a balanced backline alongside Soyuncu. This could mean a player such as James Tarkowski.

It feels strange to consider who the Foxes should sign to take over from Evans and provide competition to Fofana upon his return, but here are my calls, made with help from my loyal Twitter following.

Five potential signings

James Tarkowski is the favourite amongst the Foxes faithful. Strong and experienced, he would be a direct replacement for Jonny Evans and an upgrade should he reach his potential.

Ozan Kabak represents a very realistic option for Leicester. He is not quite an Evans replacement, though he would partner well with Soyuncu and should develop nicely under his stewardship.

Maxence Lacroix would be the most expensive option I suggest. Stylistically, Lacroix is similar to Fofana. His defensive contributions are mainly clearances and interceptions, so is quite proactive.

Now, another good value option. Fabrizio Romano has provided an update on Fulham’s Tosin Adarabioyo. At only 23, Adarabioyo is a long term prospect and was fairly impressive during his Premier League outings. He would only cost £10m.

Finally, another Evans replacement could be Attila Szalai. This Hungarian is left-footed, can pass really well, and can dribble better than most centre-backs. He is also brilliant in the air.