Leicester City’s January transfer window reviewed
By Damon Carter
A near miss
We now know that Leeds United’s Jack Harrison was at Seagrave training ground on the transfer deadline day and that his parent club pulled the plug at the eleventh hour. Harrison would have arguably been a fantastic signing. He is a left-footed player who can operate in several forward positions with his versatility being a key element to potentially push others to play better and not become complacent.
Alas, it wasn’t meant to be and it now appears that Harrison will be signing a new contract at Elland Road. If I was him I’d delay and wait for City to return in the summer when they will be more than keen to get him back to King Power Stadium.
Departures
No permanent departures but a couple of key players that have been used out wide right have gone to get more game time. Ayoze Perez leaves on loan to Real Betis to fulfil his dream of playing in La Liga – with his contract up in the summer it’s likely he will not return. Marc Albrighton makes the short trip to West Bromwich Albion to see if he can get some much-needed minutes at The Hawthorns.
The right-sided issue that many Leicester City tweets seem to be fretting about might be slightly missing the point. Neither Perez nor Albrighton were seen as solutions on that side and were not the answer to Rodgers’ needs. The likelihood is that when Ricardo Pereira returns that he will push on that side as well as his full-back duties. But also don’t forget that James Maddison has operated on that side to great effect this season. The problems are not as big as some fear. In addition – George Hirst has gone on loan to League One Ipswich Town to continue his development and Nathan Opuku arrived from Syracuse university to be immediately loaned out to sister club OH Leuven.
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All in all, it’s been a successful window, with Leicester City addressing some key areas with much-needed reinforcements. The fans will be looking forward to seeing some new players pull on the famous foxes shirt and turn this season around sooner rather than later.