A Beleaguered Leicester City's Challenge
The King Power Club's medium-term strategy requires a return and later stabilisation in the Premier League. Without the significant additional broadcast revenue, ticket sales, and the allure of top-flight English football, transfers will become harder to close, and finances will be tighter. With the threat of profit and sustainability restrictions being imposed on the side, the task at hand becomes more difficult.
This means the Winter and Summer transfer windows of 2026 could be transformative or disastrous for the former Premier League regulars. This article will explore how the EFL Championship offers a key market for the Foxes to build upon a core of players at the side, and improve either the starting XI or offer a tactical variation. This will focus on some of the best-performing talents who have some stylistic suitability, and grade each of them on feasibility, potential, and how much of an upgrade they could be.
It is believed that Leicester are interested in a striker, a left and right winger, and a defensive midfielder. I would contend that a centre-back is also a critical addition to the case, with Ben Nelson remaining inconsistent with injuries, and Wout Faes a probable departure. So, the question we are looking to answer specifically is: Which Championship players could realistically improve Leicester City’s starting XI in 2026?
Marti Cifuentes' Tactical Blueprint
The Spanish head coach of the Foxes has a rather daunting task ahead of him. We have previously discussed the paradigmatic phenomena of Jamie Vardy's vertical role in driving the King Power side forward, as well as gravity in pulling defenders in before launching an attack. Without the talismanic striker, the system has altered to one based around the explosive wingers and a supportive striker; we know this has not translated to success.
This is why some of these positions need either options or improvement. Upfront, Patson Daka has yet to score a goal as one of the worst goal droughts of any striker ever; Jordan Ayew is more supportive and defensive than an actual goal threat (although the only striker to have scored), and Julian Carranza just has not adapted to English Championship football. We need either A) a goal poacher who makes vertical runs, or B) a strong all-round centre-forward who offers both a creative and offensive outlet.
On the wings, despite immense promise from Abdul Fatawu and what was expected of Stephy Mavididi, we have seen a lack of composure and creativity. Mavididi has underperformed his xG (1.7 xG versus zero goals), and if the Ghanaian winger does not perform well in a match, the side is stranded without any recourse: Fatawu does outperform xG and xA. So, a left-winger needs to be prolific, and a right-winger needs to be a different form of chance creation.
In defence, Jannik Vestergaard has offered the only semblance of long-term stability and creative outlet from the back. Long passes have become crucial to how Cifuentes' team creates strong chances with a fast yet direct transition to attack. However, defensively, the side has been all over the place, with a lack of pace, decision-making, and threat-destruction causing the side to concede too many weak chances. A new defender must remedy this.
To aid defensively, we would have expected our midfield to help out by screening the backline and following runners. Obviously, this has not happened. Harry Winks is an elite passer and sets the tempo, but neither he nor Jordan James offers the Foxes a real screen. A new DM that actually offers resilience could be transformative to our defence, freeing Winks and James to focus on chance creation and movement.
A brief note: I will be using a mixture of FBRef and Fotmob to underpin statistical analysis, with a mixture of qualitative sources (like expert/manager opinions) as well as the current club's play style being used to form stylistic analysis. I have opted to exclude Coventry City players from the options, as I believe these to be too far-fetched to be logical additions.