Leicester may finally be signing a versatile ex-EPL winger

Leicester City are in talks to sign a right-winger. This is not a drill!  With the transfer window shutting at 11 pm on Tuesday, business is becoming ever more frantic as clubs race to seal late deals.

the Foxes have already sanctioned the exit of Dennis Praet to free up wages and potential transfer budget. It’s sad to see the exit (and potentially losing the sale value) of a talented player in Praet, but Leicester’s riches in midfield meant he was unlikely to get enough game time. Fair play to the Belgian for not being happy with collecting his reportedly sizeable wage, and FoL wish Dennis the best for the future.

Therefore, the focus now turns to bolstering the pesky right-winger position which has been a thorn in Leicester’s side for over a season now. Step forward Ademola Lookman, 23 years of age but has already enjoyed a journeyman career for someone of his relative youth. According to The Athletic, Leicester City are ‘hopeful’ of signing the English winger and both player and buyer are keen. Currently, any deal is still some way off completion as there is yet to be an agreement of the player’s valuation. Regardless, this is encouraging progress from the sporadic transfer ‘rumours’ LCFC fans had been forced to deal with.

Now there are several things about Lookman that suggest he wasn’t the first choice option- that would have likely been Berardi but Sassuolo priced the Foxes out of that move. The fact he’s right-footed does suggest he may have to adapt as Rodgers plays his wingers almost like inside-forwards, to allow space for overlapping full-backs. With Lookman likely to share the same side as Ricardo or Castagne, he would probably have to do some adapting, although his ability to play on both wings (as well as up-front) would help depth-wise. Lookman does possess some of the qualities Rodgers would like in a winger- he’s creative, tricky and direct but has the tendency to be rather wasteful in front of goal. Just watch his panenka penalty against West Ham for an example.

One advantage he does possess over other rumoured targets such as David Neres is his Premier League experience- albeit with relegated Fulham as well as sporadic appearances with Everton. Last season Lookman managed four of both goals and assists, averaging around a 6.92 rating (Whoscored). This indicates a sizeable underperformance to what he would have been expected to produce- he registered 6.25 xG and 5.26 xA in the 2020/21 campaign. Hopefully, Rodgers would be able to help coach some improvement into Lookman through training as well as man-management.

The Foxes know first-hand Lookman’s qualities- he scored against the Foxes in a 2-1 Fulham win last season. Whether Lookman ends up at the KPS will ultimately depend on agreement over a valuation, although a loan-to-buy looks like the most viable option. It’s worth mentioning that according to Sky Sports News, Leicester City do have other targets in the case of Lookman’s deal falling through. Let’s hope Jon Rudkin can pull off another masterclass before the window’s end.