The King Power Club need more reliable and experienced talents on the pitch to support their current goal of play-offs. The abysmal form in this campaign has shattered most supporter's hopes of promotion, but it seems the rot is institutionalised, so replacing that rot will take more than this one season unfortunately.
However, the transfer market is one place the board could bring a little fanfare, expectation, and support rallying behind the club; afterall, we all love a good transfer. Yet, it would seem our board does not understand this at the moment. Leicester have offloaded Wout Faes, and with a couple of extras to follow, and after the injury to Michael Antonio, it seems we have no major credible links to signings. At least we have this one.
What Leicester City must know about Kieran Dowell
According to SportsBoom, the East Midlands outfit is interested in the services of Rangers' wantaway Kieran Dowell. The 28-year-old has just six months left on his contract at Ibrox, and therefore, the team is looking to cash in on what little they can before the player leaves. It is sometimes difficult to get excited about transfers when the player linked has little going for them.
As primarily an attacking-midfielder, one could reasonably expect the name is linked due to the incessant injuries and absences of Aaron Ramsey and the continued loaning of exciting young talent Will Alves. Realistically, Dowell is linked because we need attacking talent, which is both versatile positionally (having played at AM, CM, and sometimes on the right side of a front three) and experienced.
This is perhaps what attracts Leicester to Dowell. For example, while at Norwich City, the midfielder played fairly consistently in both their EFL Championship and Premier League squads, helping the Canaries to a promotion in the first season, struggling in the Premier League, and performing well in his third season. Despite being involved in these squads, his attacking contributions are quite lacklustre.
At the time - his peak unfortunately - the player accumulated *checks notes* 0.22 offensive contributions (goals + assists) across his games for Norwich City. Comparing that return to an actually recognised good player (Jordan James), who has 0.5 contributions currently across his games for Leicester City, and we can identify a clear weakness in Dowell's game. He is not strongly attacking.
The reader will note that one has yet to mention the experienced midfielder's time at Ibrox in figures. Well, here they are: 0.14 (rounded up). That was a total of six goals + assists across 43 fixtures, including every competition. The player had a better time on loan in League One with Birmingham City, but I think getting nine total contributions in one season in League One hardly permits us to ignore the sheer lack of creativity, technical ability, and clinical finishing required to actually support the Foxes.
Leicester need someone who can come in reliably, who can either score goals or create opportunties, and if possible has experience in a challenging situation such as our own. That is not Kieran Dowell: sure, the player has played in the EFL Championship and performed fine, but they have been plagued with injuries, are not performing well in a top Championship-level competition for a major club with quality players around him, and simply inspire nothing.
In short, should the King Power Club progress with the possible signing of Kieran Dowell, they will get themselves a cheap deal for an interim player who can do a job across a few positions. However, they will not have someone who can reliably play at a consistently good level, nor will they have someone who can help in their current situation. I would rather we recall Will Alves than sign Rangers' dead weight.