Leicester want Man City goalkeeper for Championship challenge
Leicester City faced a poor showing in the previous season following the departure of club legend Kasper Schmeichel. The Foxes are looking for more options.
During our last EPL campaign, No. 1 Danny Ward shared responsibilities with returning loanee Daniel Iversen. The Danish goalkeeper showed great promise, although the general malaise within the team led the King Power club toward relegation regardless of the occasional heroics of the ‘goalie’.
According to claims, Enzo Maresca’s team is interested in one of his contacts. Zack Steffen of Manchester City. The American international has been out on loan with EFL side Middlesborough, a club which challenged for promotion in the play-offs, although they did not make it over the final hurdle.
Potential Leicester City goalkeeper refresh
It is clear that the Welshman is not good enough for Leicester City. Despite our fall into the Championship, the player did not offer enough in terms of consistency, distribution, or even shot stopping. There were heroics, but being heroic is not good enough if one cannot get the basics right: positioning.
Ward was always ready for a really good yet unlikely shot on a dangerous position, whereas always lacking awareness for those shots he believed were to be too easy – ones he thought the attacker would not choose. Iversen offered something a little different: better positioning.
However, the Dane lost out on distribution, particularly long-range passes. He was often inaccurate and careless under pressure. These weaknesses meant the Foxes had little opportunity to maintain a consistent style and performance.
Steffen offers something completely different to these two. The 28-year-old US national has developed under the stewardship of Pep Guardiola, so is a sweeper-keeper with strong goalkeeping attributes.
According to FB Ref, Steffen is within the 60th percentile for post-shot expected goals versus shots on target; which when judged alongside your concessions represents the shot-stopping quality of the goalie. The former is a good ‘keeper and further impresses with his sweeping attributes. He is in the 88th percentile for crosses stopped; Ward by comparison is within the 42nd; Iversen land in the 87th.
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Personally though, I do feel Daniel Iversen has been good for City overall. Maresca should not look to sign for the sake of it, and nor should he look to bring in from Manchester City for the sake of it. For now, Ward should be sold, Iversen should remain No. 1, and Jakub Stolarczyk should remain in the squad as our secondary goalkeeper.