Where three ideal Leicester signings fit into the starting XI: Part one

In a post-COVID-19 era, the off-season seems like a small, and slightly brief, inconvenience, only a fleeting departure away from the hustle and bustle of the footballing season schedule—with international players still training and competing at a maximum intensity as they prepare for UEFA Nations League games or other national commitments. Rest for those is just a couple of weeks away.

For writers, it’s the opportune time to speculate about incomings and outgoings in the transfer market. Last season dawned with constant rumours of an overhaul this summer, so perhaps Leicester City will be one of the busier clubs during this period. As of today—June 4th—the club is yet to complete a deal, giving me the perfect chance to highlight three supposed investments, in a mini-series of articles, and comment on how they’d acclimatise to the current starting XI.

You don’t have to watch the Foxes too closely to understand the areas that need addressing. The most notable departure is likely to be Youri Tielemans—with both North London-based clubs circling, while other European powerhouses keep note of his availability—so a replacement for the Belgian is a top priority. Murmurs of requiring a left-footed right-winger became even more concrete once Brendan Rodgers acknowledged the club was carefully monitoring the progress of PSV Eindhoven forward, Noni Madueke. With this in mind, I’ve suggested a player within this style of profile.

The final spot to consider is at the heart of defence, more specifically the LCB position. Youri Tielemans might be the highest-profile player in the squad to seek a new challenge, but there’s also the uncertainty of Caglar Soyuncu—who isn’t even contesting for a starting XI spot at the moment, forcing Jonny Evans to play an uncomfortable amount of football for his progressive muscle injuries. Finding somebody to cement competition, or maybe just replace the Northern Irishman is the final area I will investigate.

This article will start just there, identifying the exact profile the club should be signing at LCB. It’s imperative that the recruitment staff highlight the value of playing a left-footed defender (or at the very least an incredibly good two-footed ball player) in this position. There are a lot of inherent benefits to fielding a “strong foot” centre-back on their ball-playing side, passing angles from the depth of the pitch occur more naturally when progressing with the stronger foot, and being good in possession is paramount to the style of play Rodgers is installing at the club.

The latter stages of the previous Premier League season also saw Evans taking upon a specific role in possession; a frequent attempt to play long, forcing opposition defences to track spaces behind them, but also providing service for the front three—particular Jamie Vardy.

To slot into this current setup, the prospective centre-back will have to be adept on the ball. There are also the leadership qualities that Evans possesses as an authoritative, and mature, presence on the side. However, emulating this might be difficult, especially when considering the model City opts for in the transfer market. A huge amount of resources go into finding players before their “prime years”, developing them, before taking a large profit on their initial investment.

Consequently, finding a CB that fits this model and also has experience will be almost impossible. That’s why I’ve suggested finding an understudy, that could grow into the current “Evans” role. Lastly, the centre-back needs to be good in a few key defensive metrics; aerial duels, tackles, and interceptions—but not overly proactive in the latter two. If Rodgers’ side is being built around Wesley Fofana, having a more composed (not active), line-dictating CB on the left would complement the more aggressive Frenchman. With all these considerations, I believe Levi Colwill, currently of Chelsea, but more commonly known for his excellent loan spell with Huddersfield Town (helping them reach the Playoff-Final last season), could fit this role.

Firstly, Colwill’s left-footed. So that’s the first requirement ticked. Inside of Huddersfield’s structure, which was primarily the 3–4–3 formation (or other slight variations on the three-back), but did deviate into a 4–4–2, 4–3–3, or the 4–2–3–1, Colwill was always the LCB.

The CFC man’s prominence in possession was less-so than his central-defensive partners, but he still accumulated the third-highest completed passes per 90 in the squad (38.9), showing reliability on the ball. Combine this with a decent number of key passes (0.4 per 90) illustrates that within possession he’s capable of creating chances for his side, at the highest rate of defenders at the club—this number is slightly less than club captain, Jonathan Hogg, who finished the season at CB but spent time the majority of his time as a central-midfielder.

Onto his defensive acumen, and Colwill was commanding in most of his duels last season; 65% success overall—split evenly between 66% on ground duels and 64% in aerials. Completing 3.1 tackles and interceptions p/90, it’s fair to say that the 19-year-old is combative enough to feature in the Premier League. For comparison, Evans has a 67% total duels win, with a more uneven split towards aerials (73%) and ground (62%). I acknowledge the difference in quality between the two leagues, but also want to state that Colwill hasn’t been given the opportunity to feature against top-tier opposition, and has showcased all the assets to deal with players within that bracket.

His market value—£4.5million—is much more reasonable (even with the added inflation of being youthful, promising, and English as part of his makeup), versus other supposed targets; William Saliba (right-footed and played the entire campaign with Marseille on the right-side of defence), Gleison Bremer (right-footed), etc. It’s a fairly low-risk, high reward purchase, the epitome of how Leicester City is running itself as a club.

Acquiring Colwill wouldn’t improve the starting XI—as I’d keep Evans on the left, at least to start the season—but would provide a real asset for the future and rotational fixtures, such as domestic cups. There’s a reason he’s being touted as a generational talent, which might make Chelsea reluctant to offload, especially with them losing a lot of centre-backs in the coming window.

As a club, Chelsea hasn’t shied away from selling youth talents, despite public perception arguing against it, and maybe, if the Foxes offer something attractive enough—around the £15-£20 million mark—he could be pried away from London. For all of these reasons, that’s why I’ve chosen Levi Colwill, as the first piece of business for Leicester City, not to adjust the starting XI, but as an integral piece for the future, as an impressive LCB.