3 Things to know about Leicester transfer target Sasa Lukic
Leicester City are reportedly linked with interest in Torino midfielder Sasa Lukic. Here are the three things you need to know and our verdict.
The Foxes have a rather well-balanced midfield at the moment: of course, this is going to change with possible outgoings of Dennis Praet, Youri Tielemans, Papy Mendy, and the move of James Maddison to right-wing. So, there might be a small amount of space for a new midfield signing to come in, alongside promotions to the senior side in coming years for players such as Wanya Marcal-Madivadua.
Apparently, to fill this possible gap, the Serbian international defensive midfielder has been sounded out. The King Power club would no doubt recognise the player as a replacement for Papy Mendy: not first team and hardly utilised.
Leicester City’s ‘what to know’
According to those reports, the player is wanted by several clubs as there are only 18 months lefts on his deal with the Serie A side Torino. These include the Foxes, West Ham United, Napoli, and Roma. These are teams looking to have more physical presences in midfield.
Normally, there are three aspects I care most about with any possible transfer: positionality, stylistic preference, and value. Being a defensive midfielder, it is obvious the player can take on an anchor-role, a ball-winning role, and less obviously can also do box-to-box play. Not particularly innovative, but certainly a useful midfielder.
Arguably, Leicester would only need a temporary plug for this position, as Sammy Braybrooke slowly works his way through the academy, so an experienced DM like Lukic could be a useful addition in the meantime. However, this does mean spending a hefty amount of our wage bill on another Mendy – in terms of possible utilisation.
Stylistically, the Serbian international is balanced: not overly impressive defensively or offensively. FB Ref hardly rates the player in any category, only reaching near the 80th percentile with a 79th in pass completion. Essentially, the player is a bit of a all-round all right player not excelling in anything.
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In terms of value, the Lukic is priced somewhere around £10-15m. With only a short time on his contract, this January might be the last time Torino can get a fair price for their talent. If a fee of around £10m can be agreed, this might turn out to be a useful rotation for Wilfred Ndidi, although nowhere near a possible replacement for the Nigerian DM.