Marti Cifuentes has seen Jamie Vardy, Wilfred Ndidi, James Justin, Kasey McAteer, Conor Coady, and Mads Hermansen exit the King Power. However, it remains highly expected that Bilal El Khannouss, Victor Kristiansen, and Patson Daka could follow them out the door. It is not too much to suggest we really need more than Asmir Begovic to reinforce the side.
This does look likely. In the last week we have seen too many rumours and links to list. However, the key part would seem to be midfield. With El Khannouss likely departing for Stuttgart, Will Alves sent on loan, and the only other options being the out of favour Harry Winks or youth player Louis Page, we need someone to take centre stage in midfield.
The Swedish Progresser
Leicester City have identified one of two possible players to fill the gap left by El Khannouss and Alves: Jordan James or Anton Saletros. The Welsh midfielder from Rennes offers a lot of potential for the Foxes, having played in a forward-looking team for some time already. The experienced Swede offers a more complete package, although he is already in the twilight of his prime.
Stylistically, Saletros offers Cifuentes’ Foxes a No.6 or No.8 with a focus on progressing the ball. Think of a Youri Tielemans without the clinical goalscoring edge. The Swedish midfielder seems proficient in multiple forms of progression: boasting amongst the highest percentiles in passing and carrying the ball forward.
Added to that is a creative knack. As a springboard for attacks, the talent has a wide passing range, able to find long range shots, use short technical passes round defenders, or fast defence-splitting passes to kickstart movements. In effect, Saletros offers the King Power side a player who can get the ball forward from defence, working well with progressive fullbacks and attacking midfielders, and is creative enough to be involved in attacks.
Being experienced is also a major plus with plenty of ball-knowledge to bring into the foreground. He would also be inexpensive, and could see out the remainder of his career under Cifuentes should the Spaniard manage to rebuild this identity-crisis and painfully disappointed football club.
Overall, Saletros seems like a good shout for Marti Cifuentes to inexpensively sign a replacement to El Khannouss and Alves while not disrupting the chances for youth players to be involved in the senior side in the coming years. Plus, I am fairly impressed by his progressive stats, and although all our midfielders are more progressive rather than outright creative, a balanced No.6 to take the current role of Oliver Skipp alongside Boubakary Soumare should be useful.