It can be difficult to accurately define a singular position in need of improvement/reinforcement during the incoming winter transfer market. However, we can at least divide up the team into positional segments, identify weaknesses, and then contend from there which position is weakest. This is exactly what we will explore.
Leicester City's Weakest Position
Were we to be simplistic to the point of lunacy, then we would look purely from a numerical standpoint: this is, how many players are there in the position? Although there is a clear answer - wingers - I think it is poignant to note that we have enough versatility with other talents should an injury befall Abdul Fatawu. We have Jordan Ayew, Bobby De Cordova-Reid, and Ricardo Pereira who can play in wide forward positions.
Our midfield is perhaps the highest-performing position in the Foxes lineup. Harry Winks offers immense technical ability in progression, showing creativity too in setting both the tempo and initial direction of attack. Jordan James has now brought an added layer of defensive-intent and goalscoring acumen to that midfield dynamic. Louis Page and Bobby De Cordova-Reid (Aaron Ramsey needs some more game time), have offered enough link-up play as attacking midfielders to assist the team's final third movements. Our midfield is our strongest asset in creativity and vital to our defence.
Otherwise, fullbacks have been a little lacklustre, but I do not see that as a major concern, since our three main options have offered plenty of promise and we have depth thus requiring no action in the market. There remain two positions I wish to consider for a signing in the winter: centre-back and striker.
At the back, the East Midlands outift have struggled to maintain clean sheets, and with a severe lack of pace, can crumble under intense pressure from explosive forwards. This has led to plenty of chances against Jakub Stolarczyk, although the Foxes have not been heavily punished for this failure yet. We have options at the back, but Cifuentes seems to distrust Ben Nelson, and has identified Wout Faes and Jannik Vestergaard as our best choices. Caleb Okoli too did little wrong, although not particularly impressive. They of course make up most defensive contributions, but lack creative input for the most part.
Casting a gaze forward, that supposedly clinical core - striker - has myriad options to fulfill the primary mover: to score. We have Jordan Ayew, Patson Daka, and the on-loan Julian Carranza. Yet, the permanent pair's contracts are nearing their expiration in the next summer window, and Carranza has yet to make a lasting mark on the team. We have options, but none long-term and - as I will illustrate below - none particularly impactful.
After an arduous crawl through a statistical labyrinth of average accumulated defensive, creative, and offensive stats for each position, we found both the expected and the painful. Ignoring the skewed 'last place' for our goalkeeper slot, it was our strikers who held both last position defensively, and have failed to make any meaningful strides either as chance creators or finishers.
The Immediate Need
The 'Strikers'. They have a combined total of 1,023 minutes of football played for the King Power Club this season thus far. They have scored *checks notes* one measly goal, assisting only one as well, and made a combined total of 13 progressive passes. That is it. The entire creative and offensive contribution of the central forward role is two. One contribution every 500 minutes. Truly abysmal.
Hence, they have failed to make an offensive contribution as is their primary impetus, instead featuring as mere vessels from which the actual contributors launch their own actions. They have equally failed to offer a creative output, although Ayew does have the highest expected assists in the squad. Without clinical impetus, creative intelligence, you would logically expect at least some challenges for the ball, tackles, pressures, etc. Yet, no, they are - as aforementioned - the worst grouping defensively.
Therefore, it is unfortunately extremely easy to illustrate with the combination of stats and looming departures that our striker position is woefully inadequate. They do not score, assist, or defend. We need to either entrust a new generation who can perform that central role (Jake Evans) or we must endeavour in January to replace this weak cog in Cifuentes' clockwork, and sign a goalscorer who can deliver in tandem with our midfield and wingers.
Leicester City needed a real Jamie Vardy replacement: a player who presses high, terrifies defenders to cause mistakes, can actually finish their breakfast when the plate is handed to them by the wingers, and is capable of supporting defensively when required. None of the three current have offered anything of the sort.
I do still feel the central defence needs a pacy defender who can snuff out attacks, press high, but also rush back when required to make last-ditch defensive actions. However, it is painfully clear that our strikers are not cutting it up front and not making up for it anywhere else. Patson Daka and Jordan Ayew must be allowed to move on. Plus, we have had plenty of chances in the past for a strong striker, we will get more opportunities.