For Leicester City, entering July means the return of the Premier League suddenly feels a lot closer. The Foxes have five friendlies before the competitive action begins, rounding off their pre-season fixtures by welcoming Sevilla to the King Power Stadium on July 31.
Brendan Rodgers will already have last season’s eighth placed finish firmly at the back of his mind as he hopes to haul his side back towards fighting for the Champions League places as it did for the two campaigns prior. Many have strongly argued that a summer rebuild is required to see LCFC scale those heights once more, with others putting the lacklustre nature of 21/22 down to fatigue, injuries, and bad luck.
If a large squad overhaul is on the agenda, City are acting in very little haste, with Eldin Jakupovic the only senior squad member departing thus far as his contract came to an end. July 1 does signal the beginning of a new financial year, so perhaps the mysterious lack of transfer activity can be attributed to accounting technicalities with financial fair play. Please now click the ‘Page 2’ link directly below in order to continue with the current article.
There are plenty of Foxes players expected to leave this summer across a variety of positions, but the main area of the pitch where players appear to be surplus to requirements is central midfield. Dennis Praet is reportedly in talks with Fiorentina, while Hamza Choudhury and Boubakary Soumare have been the subject of links to other clubs.
In terms of incomings, one rumour that has persisted for months is that Leicester would like to bring in Charles de Ketelaere, a 21-year-old midfielder from Club Brugge. However, those who sanction the club’s transfer will have to be prepared to enter a bidding war, with Leeds United (likely to have cash to spend from selling Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha) keenly interested, and AC Milan sniffing around the Belgian.
If money does become an issue in this deal, then the Foxes will have to look elsewhere. The club is no stranger to a bargain, particularly taking advantage of recently relegated sides to purchase players at below market value, evident in the deals for Jonny Evans and Harry Maguire. Although the three sides dropping down from the Premier League this time around: Burnley, Watford and Norwich City are unsurprisingly running low on top-half calibre players.
What the East Midlands side can identify, however, is where the value is. Taking Norwich and Watford out of the equation, Burnley’s squad might not be stacked with quality, but there are some solid, dependable players that could come into LCFC’s squad and act as capable deputies. Nathan Collins was hunted by Leicester in the past, and midfielder Josh Brownhill is connected could be available for £15million.
The 26-year-old will be eager to return to the top flight and avoid becoming trapped in the second tier, especially after the significance of his performances in the Clarets’ mini-revival towards the end of last season. Nobody would be expecting Brownhill to come in and be a regular starter, particularly if Rodgers has intentions of getting the club back into Europe, but an extra midfielder in reserve with proven Premier League experience would allow him to keep his strongest middlemen refreshed and reduce the load that has seen the club struck down by so many injuries.
One concern about this deal would be how Brownhill perceives himself compared with the other Leicester City midfielders. If he thinks he can make a good impression and force his way into the starting line-up, then the King Power would surely be his ideal destination. If he thinks he’ll be there as a squad player, then perhaps interested bottom half clubs such as Southampton might be able to guarantee him more minutes.