3 Things to know about Leicester transfer targets Ryan Giles and Joel Piroe
By Will Kennedy
![Joel Piroe of Swansea City (2nd L) attempts to get past Ryan Giles of Middlesbrough (C) (both Leicester City targets) during the Sky Bet Championship match between Swansea City and Middlesbrough at the Swansea.com Stadium on March 11, 2023 in Swansea, Wales. (Photo by Athena Pictures/Getty Images) Joel Piroe of Swansea City (2nd L) attempts to get past Ryan Giles of Middlesbrough (C) (both Leicester City targets) during the Sky Bet Championship match between Swansea City and Middlesbrough at the Swansea.com Stadium on March 11, 2023 in Swansea, Wales. (Photo by Athena Pictures/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/77c5fffb50c9a82bd8a54f3395693ed94de85fc5589e5c1b484e80c9c4bbc09e.jpg)
Goals galore
On the other end of the pitch, Joel Piroe has announced himself as a prolific scorer in the second division. Having signed for Swansea City in a bargain £1m deal in 2021 from PSV Eindhoven, Piroe took to the league like a duck to water. Since his Swans debut, the Dutchman has netted 41 goals in only 88 Championship appearances.
This season, he scored nearly a third of Swansea’s goals, netting 19 in 43 games as well as providing 2 assists. Able to play on either wing, Piroe predominantly plays through the middle of the pitch.
If his name sounds familiar to Foxes fans, it’s because he was strongly linked with a move to the King Power last summer, however the Swans were demanding £20m for his services which ultimately worked in putting Leicester off.
Whilst Swansea were able to price out clubs last year, the story is very different this summer. With his contract expiring in 2024, and with WalesOnline reporting that Piroe is unwilling to extend his stay in Wales, it looks as if the Swans will be forced into selling their best asset for a cut-price fee.
Currently valued around £10m there are multiple clubs sniffing around for a deal. Everton and Nottingham Forrest offer the pull of the Premier League, meanwhile former Swansea boss Russell Martin is keen on reuniting with the forward at Southampton. Again, this is where the spending power of Leicester could help them in a move, but Swansea will be keen to get the most money they can out of any deal.
If the Foxes can secure a move for the 23-year-old, they would be adding a serious number of goals to their squad, something they desperately missed from their strikers last season. The deal makes perfect sense and might be the missing ingredient to secure promotion.