Where three ideal Leicester signings fit into the XI: Part two, Maxime Lopez

If you believe all the reports in the media, Tielemans is destined to join Arsenal this summer. Mikel Arteta is longing to add a central-midfielder into his ranks, as they spent the majority of last season pursuing Frenchman, Houssem Aouar, of Olympique Lyonnais. Ironically, after The Gunners shifted their interest slightly more central-Europe to the Belgian-international, Leicester City has now been linked with acquiring Lyon’s playmaker. If looking for a direct fit into the current system at the King Power Stadium, then I don’t think the 23-year-old is the correct profile for what Rodgers needs on the right-side of his central-midfield.

Currently, the skillset required to work at RCM in the midfield-three is a player capable of receiving possession from the defence (with high frequency), a lot of responsibility when in possession of the ball—essentially dictating the style and tempo of attacks. In addition to having intentions to play progressively when afforded the space and options, mobile enough to rotate positions in width (a role Tielemans operated in during the latter stages of the 2021/22 Premier League season and is visualised below), and good within dead-ball situations.

There’s also the work out of possession, discipline in the defensive structure, a good output for tackles and interceptions, and the ability to aid in the high press once the team has initiated it. That’s a lot of attributes, so finding a single player capable of completing all these tasks is inherently difficult, but I found an interesting option.