It’s time for the third—and final—part of the mini-series, where I address some potential options to play as the right-winger for Leicester City next season.
I want to first suggest the profile of winger the Foxes recruitment should be interested in. With elite teams across Europe relying a lot on their wingers (particularly teams that play inside of a 4–3–3 structure—such as Liverpool), to have a good goal-scoring output, this will be high on the list of demands.
If you delve deeper into the signings by the top two Premier League clubs from last season’s campaign, you can see that both Manchester City and Liverpool have invested a large percentage of their respective budgets into “traditional #9’s” (Erling Haaland and Darwin Nunez), as this seems to be the tactical transition both Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp are shifting towards—making the winger in these systems more creative-orientated. This is basically a long-winded way of saying that the winger needs to have a good output for both goals and assists (anything upwards of 6/7 in both metrics would meet my personal quota).
After that, I think it’s important that the RW is naturally left-footed, but with confidence to manipulate defenders by going wide and using their “weaker” foot for creation. Think back to Riyad Mahrez, a strong left-footed carrier, that could suggest to defenders he’s utilising either side by having confidence—and competence—on his right-foot. So, predominantly left-footed but capable with either. The last of my demands—extras are always welcome—is a good dribbler. Currently, there’s a lack of dribbler profiles inside the club, and it’s imperative that a winger can bypass the opposition full-back in one-on-one situations, for quite obvious reasons.
Before I find profiles that meet the demands I’ve set out, I would like to address comments I believe to be true—and have made frequently throughout all of my Twitter threads this season, James Maddison’s best position for Leicester City is at RW. I will do a much deeper article reflecting on this, but I wanted to preface the recruitment process by stating that I think Brendan Rodgers should utilise the 25-year-old as a “false winger”. However, I still think having a player with undeniable talent, perhaps providing more width-focused qualities, is an area to target for the Foxes.
It’s also worth mentioning that Ademola Lookman isn’t a player I investigated for this position because if the converted Nigerian winger joined on a full-time basis, I don’t think it should block the pathway of another wide-player coming in. A rumoured fee of £15 million isn’t cheap but does give scope for extra resources to be utilised in the position—especially with sales across the squad. Alas, the options.
The first name that’s received a lot of traction is Chukwunoso Tristan Madueke (Noni Madueke), currently plying his trade in the Netherlands with PSV Eindhoven. After a fruitful career in the English youth systems, the Barnet-born winger decided that a move into central Europe would better his career—versus trying to puncture Tottenham Hotspurs’ starting XI. After two and half years in Eindhoven, where he’s established himself as a pivotal player in both Ernest Faber and Roger Schmidt’s systems. With Ruud Van Nistelrooy taking over, as the latter moves to Benfica, how will Madueke fit? Probably still crucial, but it could raise some concerns for the player.
Simply put, Madueke is a really good, stylistic fit. I think his output could improve (3 goals and 3 assists), especially with a dip since last season when compared with the 2020/2021 season (7 goals and 4 assists). I attest a lot of this to an injury-ridden season, missing a total of 141 days with “muscle injuries” (transfermarkt), translating to 23 matches. Finding consistency, when separate injuries (four) keep disturbing your season, is a difficult task—so, I personally won’t be judging the output too heavily.
After that, his dribbling, explosive carrying, and left-footed dominance (with the ability to utilise his right-side) make him the correct profile for what is required for the LCFC right-winger, and technically different from the potential starting RW (Maddison). My slight reservation is that the interest cooled after the two legs in the UEFA Conference League against PSV, which Rodgers stated was a chance to assess his qualities up-close—hinting that he’s got other options that fit better?
If you log onto Twitter and search for transfer rumours, or news, related to Leicester City, you can’t scroll quickly enough to miss a report on Charles De Ketelaere. Providing you overlook all the Youri Tielemans rumours. The Belgian forward is a hot prospect, and if you believe all the talk on Twitter—which I wouldn’t advise—then it’s the Italian giants, and current Scudetto holders, AC Milan, who are also interested in the wide-forward. A little breakdown of his profile should illustrate why.
Firstly, his heat map for the campaign shows an even distribution to both the left- and right-sides of the pitch, and after viewing some video footage of his playing style from last season, his favoured pitch side for scoring is the left but his creation is impressive from the right. The goals he’s scored aren’t restricted to the left-side, the manipulation of his body for shooting and his signature “side step” (dribble) have equal value on the right. If you partner this with impressive performances against some European powerhouses—Manchester City for one—highlights that he should be able to transfer his skillset into a top European league.
Not to mention, having flexibility in positioning and roles is something Rodgers places a lot of value in, and perhaps correlates to performance levels under his reign. The best “new signing” performers during his time with the club have arguably been Timothy Castagne and James Justin—both fluid positional full-backs, strong on both flanks, and Lookman (who played everywhere across the front line last season). The “bad” performers; Ryan Bertrand, Boubakary Soumaré, and Jannik Vestergaard, are all players that are limited to their “starting position”, and thus if playing poorly, can’t move to another position as they don’t have the skill sets to transfer across the pitch; this isn’t an issue for the Club Brugge forward.
Acquiring De Ketelaere should also be boosted by having a strong Belgian contingent already in the squad, despite transfer links away from the club for both Youri Tielemans and Dennis Praet. It also feels like a Foxes signing; young and promising, but with an additional risk of spending upwards of £35 million (if the rumours are to be believed). Expensive signings haven’t gone too smoothly for the East Midlands club in recent years, but those players were older, almost on the wrong side of their prime years, whereas De Ketelaere is only improving. I think most fans, and Rodgers, would take either of the aforementioned options, but as a slight wildcard, what about Samuel Chukwueze?
The Nigerian winger is contracted to Villarreal (ever since graduating from their academy system in 2018) and is an interesting talent operating on the right-side of their adjustable 4–4–2 structure. Known primarily for his effectiveness when carrying possession—illustrated by his percentile rankings across Europe’s Top Five Leagues for progressive carries (83rd) and completed dribbles (98th)—the 23-year-old would provide the explosiveness and skillset missing from the right. Not to mention, 95% of his actions are completed with his left foot (fbref), which does fit the stylistic profile I’ve created, albeit limiting the unpredictability of his ball-carrying.
However, since being an important part of Villarreal’s La Liga campaigns for the last four years, Chukwueze hasn’t registered more than 5 goals in a single season, nor 5 assists per season. His general output is fairly low, despite this, he ranks highly amongst “attacking midfielders/wingers” for xA (expected assists) per 90, with a score of 0.26 (85th percentile).
This suggests his inability to consistently create goals for his teammates isn’t solely his fault, the forwards receiving his passes to score aren’t converting the chances as frequently as expected. Even with all of these aspects considered, I think there’s a risk to his acquisition—but, with a market value of £16 million, he’s likely to be available for a similar fee to Madueke with a potential ceiling as high as the Englishman. It boils down to risk versus reward, and the Foxes aren’t known for taking expensive risks in the transfer market.
Overall, I think the two most heavily rumoured wingers; Noni Madueke and Charles De Ketelaere are good stylistic fits for Leicester City. I would probably prefer the former, just because of his raw athletic profile being a massive boost to attacking transitions/scenarios, whereas the Belgian boasts similar assets to James Maddison—which is good, we just don’t need two of him. Personally, the RW spot will be taken by the current Leicester City No.10, but whoever we sign will make a case for replacing him there, and perhaps even adjust the formation to accommodate both.