An opening day win, goals from defenders rather than traditional goalscorers, good set pieces, and a play style and system which looks familiar and successful. These conditions hide the possible dark reality of a frail King Power Club.
With six senior players having left Leicester, and only one senior team signing, Mart Cifuentes has essentially the same squad Ruud van Nistelrooy had for his Premier League campaign minus some extremely influential talents in Jamie Vardy, Mads Hermansen, and the vital Daniel Iversen. The loss of our clear first team goalkeeper Iversen will make the Spaniards job more difficult.
All jokes aside, the only real addition outside of promoted youth talents like Will Alves, Sammy Braybrooke, and Ben Nelson, is Asmir Begovic. The aging goalkeeper is certainly not intended to take the starting spot from Jakub Stolarczyk, but will hopefully get game time in the cups. That is it for now. Over two transfer windows we have signed Woyo Coulibaly and Begovic: players who will seldom touch the pitch.
Leicester City’s transfer woes to worsen
Marti Cifuentes has commented in the aftermath of their win over Sheffield Wednesday on the transfer window. Particularly, the head coach insisted the importance of some players - of which Bilal El Khannouss was singled out - and the admission that others could follow ’Vardy & Co’ off the rollercoaster.
"as a manager you have some players you might think are more important… you have to understand there is the reality in terms of the value that the market gives to certain players… All good players will attract interest. It’s not just about Bilal… If I think we need something, I will look into the academy to see if we can find a player who can do this role"Marti Cifuentes
Bilal El Khannouss, Harry Winks, Abdul Fatawu, Luke Thomas, and of course Jordan Ayew have all shown up in preseason and in the opening fixture. There is certainly interest in the best of them, and with that in mind it is impossible to conceive a situation where Leicester City does not end up letting another star go.
However, should that happen, the Foxes are in a better position. Starting with Nistelrooy, the focus has shifted away from major signings, and towards utilising the academy. That is where you will find startlets that can revolutionise your side or make you a tonne of money when developed and later sold. Jeremy Monga and Jake Evans are the perfect example of those Nistelrooy got involved to illustrate their quality.
Cifuentes here has specifically mentioned looking to the academy first. Say Khannouss does end up leaving for Newcastle United, or Abdul Fatawu joining back up with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall at Everton, there are homegrown or youthful players who can make the step up.
So, the King Power side may well have another dreary and lacklustre transfer window, but the academy is going to have the best season of its existence. Thomas, Hamza Choudhury, Evans, Monga, Sammy Braybrooke, Will Alves, Wanya Marcal-Madivadua, Ben Nelson, Michael Golding, or even Olabade Aluko have the potential to come in where others leave. They may not all of them be the brightest stars, but they can certainly get this rollercoaster back on track.