Things are certainly getting crazy at Leicester City Football Club as the transfer window nears its close. With the end of the month right around the corner, there have been a flurry of rumors as to who’s leaving and coming in. It should only get more unpredictable come the weekend.
Leicester City have already had a flurry of action in this window. The club saw 12 players leave, over half leaving for free. Tete finished his loan, much to the delight of many fans, and Ayoze Perez went to Spain. Academy product George Hirst was sold to Ipswich Town, and most notable were the departures of Harvey Barnes and James Maddison.
What’s shocking is the value of these players compared to what the team received for them. With a net of £92.05 million seeming impressive, the actual value of all that left was a staggering £206 million. That’s over double what Leicester brought in, which isn’t exactly shrewd business by all accounts.
With the time left in the window there have been links and rumors about more than a few LCFC players still with the squad. Players like Timothy Castagne, Wilfred Ndidi, and Victor Kristiansen have all been recently linked with moves away from the King Power Stadium. Others like Boubakary Soumare and Patson Daka have had their name in the transfer talk as well.
Let’s play a game for a second. What if these players were to end up staying at the Leicester City? The Leicester Mercury’s Jordan Blackwell spoke on the subject recently. Take someone like Soumare: in my opinion he still has a lot of potential (despite what many of my Fellow Foxes may think of him) and if his move falls through what would it look like getting him back into the fold? Surely the French midfielder would have a bitter taste in his mouth after being left out of the team for so long. It’s been clear Maresca doesn’t rate him, would it be a ticking time bomb to reintegrate players like this to the line-up? My gut tells me it won’t be a problem at all. Not with this manager, anyways.
If Rodgers was still here I would say don’t ever let him touch the field again, considering how players acted when he picked them every week let alone snubbing them, but this is Enzo Maresca. It’s been plain to see that with his system these players can have a new lease on life after the drivel and absolute dross that was ‘Brendan Rodgers-ball’ over the past two years. I’m convinced that any player on the fringes of the squad would be excited to prove themselves to the fanbase with these tactics there to help them shine.
See here exhibit A: Jannik Vestergaard. A walking meme to most Leicester City fans prior to this season, Maresca has brought him back into the fold with seemingly no effort. The towering Dane is cool on the ball, a fixture to this new style.
Despite not scoring, ‘Big Jan’ seems to win a lot of defensive headers; even though we all notice the ones he doesn’t. My point here being that this manager can revive even what seems to be the most cast out player.
With players with Soumare, Souttar, and even Luke Thomas, if they don’t go I fully trust Maresca to put an arm around them and welcome them back. They are all professionals and realize that this is a business. I believe the Italian manager came here because of the plethora of talent at his disposal, even knowing who might leave. This is a Premier League club as we all know, and the academy products and talent we have will be reinterpreted through Enzo Maresca’s vision.
No matter who is left at the club come the end of this transfer period, I know this the new manager will be able to utilize almost anyone if the player will work for it. If players are willing to adapt and learn, I’m positive Maresca will be willing to put in anyone who proves to him they will adhere to the ideas we are trying to solidify. The next few days will certainly be exciting! Until next time, up the boys!