Leicester midfielder Tottenham bound as Spurs man incoming

Leicester City’s exodus has begun, and so must too the rebuild. The Foxes look likely to to business with Tottenham Hotspurs in both directions.

The King Power club will need to sell a couple players on top of their freebie losses to assist in the rebuild. Enzo Maresca looks as if he is going for talent hungry for playtime, while offloading high earners to fund the build. The subjects of this story are James Maddison and Harry Winks.

According to reports, Leicester star ‘Madders’ is out the door, with talks ongoing with the London-based side. Additionally, it is believed that the Foxes are interested in Tottenham’s out on loan midfielder Winks. I shall detail some more information on the supposed Maddison deal, as well as opinion on the Winks links.

Leicester City man linked to EPL side

Although without myriad trophies, constantly falling to the wayside of better teams, Tottenham Hotspurs is an interesting destination for the England international. Maddison is a world-class attacking midfielder, although at Leicester his career ended in systematic over-reliance. The player shall find himself the first team ‘AM’ with a brilliant forward line ahead of him, and a weaker midfield behind him.

Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has announced that Spurs have agreed personal terms with James Maddison, so we can expect more negotiations between the Championship and EPL sides. The player wants to leave, the Foxes need more money for the rebuild, and Spurs need an elite creator. It is a win deal for everyone.

The East Midland’s giants are looking for around £60m, so a bid totalling around £50-55m should be enough to convince Maresca’s side to part with the elite playmaker. As well as this, the money could be critical to begin signing the several players we might be required to acquire.

Newcastle United have also been linked in recent weeks, however their interest seems to lack the concrete action being taken by Tottenham. It seems London is the destination for the English midfield maestro.

Foxes linked to unwanted EPL player

Winks is an interesting choice. The 27-year-old has been hungry for game time for a while, and we have seen the former England international sent out on loan to Serie A team Sampdoria. There the player mainly played as a DM with some progressive responsibilities – at least more than the Foxes returning loanee Hamza Choudhury.

Stylistically, the midfielder can be understood as a springboard to break a press. What he does most – according to FB Ref – are progressive passes, interceptions, and take-ons against defenders. This means the player is involved in passing the ball forward quickly, getting hold of the ball, and pushing forward to help create chances against stubborn defences.

Furthermore, Winks would not be an expensive signing. A value of around £10m is more than offset against the sale of James Maddison as well as savings by promoting players over signing extra. Arguably, the value of this deal is fairly good.

An EPL and Serie A experienced midfielder, with plenty of talents. Whether or not this talent is better than what we have is debatable: at the moment, Boubakary Soumare, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, and Choudhury are the likely midfield trio. Winks would be an improvement progressively, though less passionately defensive, compared to Hamza Choudhury.

Honestly, a midfield of ‘KDH’, ‘Bouba’ and Winks is an EPL mid table side. That should put it as one of the best in the EFL Championship. Those who get angered over a lack of signings, then scoff at what we have and what links we do get can be frankly delusional at times: the Foxes need midfielders, and Harry Winks would be a great addition instead of the older Tom Cairney.