Brendan Rodgers confirms Leicester transfer plans for January

Happy New Year Foxes fans! 2022 may be a new one, but the same issues are reoccurring for Leicester City.

With Wesley Fofana, Jonny Evans, Caglar Soyuncu, Ricardo Pereira, James Justin, Ryan Bertrand, Harvey Barnes, Patson Daka and Jamie Vardy all out injured, and now with Wilfred Ndidi, Kelechi Iheanacho and Daniel Amartey playing for their countries in the Africa Cup of Nations, the squad depth at Leicester City is going to be seriously tested.

The January fixtures are coming quick and fast, with the FA Cup home game against Watford being followed by tricky away fixtures to Everton and Burnley – all in the space of a week. Even with the New Year’s Day game against Norwich postponed, this is one of the biggest challenges in Brendan Rodgers’ time in the East Midlands.

There is a lifeline though: the January transfer window. A lot has been speculated as to where the Foxes will look to strengthen in the winter window with many fans dreaming of a new right winger. However, with the current injury crisis, there is no room for any luxury signings.

Before it was announced that the Norwich game was postponed, Brendan Rodgers sat down with the media and spoke about his transfer plans:

"“It’s something we’ll be looking at. Now it takes on a different focus with the injuries that we’ve had and from the weekend after having one fit and available centre-half. Money doesn’t grow on trees so we’ll have to maximise the talent that we have and go from there.”Brendan Rodgers via Leicestershire Live"

So, what can we expect in January? Rodgers has always made it clear that Leicester have a limited budget and cannot compete with the so-called Top 6. Don’t expect any large transfer fees or an influx of multiple players, the most we can expect is three players, but I’d expect two to come in.

Focus must be on the defence, especially at centre back. At the time of writing, Leicester only have one fit and ready senior centre half: Jannik Vestergaard. Vestergaard’s performances in Leicester blue haven’t given any confidence that he can be counted on, let alone as the one senior centre back in a defensive line.

I’d expect Leicester to spend on one player – perhaps James Tarkowski – and then dive into the loan market. The Foxes have had some good luck with loan signings in recent history with the likes of Youri Tielemans, Aleksandar Dragović and Ademola Lookman all thriving spells at the club. We won’t mention Ryan Bennett.

A lot will be written over the next few weeks about who Leicester are targeting, but we can only hope that the recruitment is smart and well planned out rather than risking it on a panic buy. Leicester certainly can’t wait until deadline day to get their business done this time around. I have a feeling that this will be a long old month for Brendan Rodgers.