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

Averaging 88.35 touches across the entire pitch p/90 places him inside the 96th percentile for CMs, and nobody makes more passes or has more touches than López at Sassuolo this season (aside from Francesco Magnanelli—but his mere 271 minutes of football this season is an unfair comparison). That’s an important piece of the criteria that López has ticked. Moving onto his progressive nature, as connecting play to those ahead of him will be of paramount importance.

The 24-year-old completes 6.28 progressive passes p/90 (94th percentile and also slightly more than Tielemans’ 5.8 p/90), with an impressive ratio of final third passes (6.83 p/90), and key passes (1.32 p/90)—a quick comparison with Tielemans, who completes 5.86 passes into the final third and 1.32 key passes p/90. Something the Belgian does provide to a better standard is completing passes into the penalty area (1.14 p/90) versus López (0.49 p/90).

However, with a creative focal point in James Maddison—who in my opinion should start as a right-winger for Leicester City next season (& will subside this penalty area entries)—having a player that can transition the play from the depth of the pitch into the final third is more important than an extra pass into the box every two games.