There’s just a week to go until Leicester City face Tottenham in their Premier League opener and their transfer situation has grown more desperate over the past couple of days.
It has been accepted since the start of the summer that City needed new signings to get their squad ready for the top flight. But the performance produced and the injuries sustained in Saturday’s final pre-season friendly suggest quick, quality business is a necessity if they are to stand a chance of beating Spurs.
Displays of the kind City gave at Lens will earn very few points this season. They need to improve drastically and additions will help that cause. But they need signings not only to strengthen positions, but to fill gaps.
A new striker is now the priority. Steve Cooper has been coy on the possibility of signing a new forward, but there’s no need to beat around the bush now. Jamie Vardy has barely trained this summer and still isn’t fit, while Patson Daka could be sidelined for some time with the injury that forced him to withdraw in the first half at Lens.
That Cooper brought on Stephy Mavididi rather than Tom Cannon suggests the Republic of Ireland international is not in the manager’s thinking to start next Monday. It will have to be somebody new.
Panathinaikos’s Fotis Ioannidis has been the subject of a reported £22m bid after a terrific campaign in both the Greek Super League and the Europa League last season, while in Germany it’s said an agreement has been reached between City and Bayer Leverkusen over a loan-to-buy deal for Czech international Adam Hlozek. Terms just need to be agreed with the player.
Both players can lead the line but, as yet, one signing does not necessarily rule out the other. Hlozek can also play in behind the striker, so there would potentially be space for both in the team.
While City have brought in Facundo Buonanotte on loan from Brighton to play in attacking midfield, and it seems the Seagulls expect him to start, Cooper may feel he is still short there. Will Alves has signed a new contract and has been with the first-team squad all pre-season, but Cooper’s reluctance to give him considerable minutes in the summer friendlies suggests the manager may not think he is ready for regular Premier League football.
For now, City need either Ioannidis, Hlozek or another forward, and time is ticking. While City don’t play until Monday, any signings they want to use in the game would have to be registered by midday on Friday.
With the focus on attacking signings, it’s possible City will look for more than just a striker and an attacking midfielder. Links to wingers have persisted throughout the window and former Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha is the man on the radar at the moment.
Talk is of a loan deal, with suggestions that negotiations will revolve around how much City would pay to bring in the Ivorian for a year, and how much of his wages they would stump up. Zaha, if signed, would become a leading contender to start on the left wing for City, potentially pushing Mavididi out of the 11, albeit he wasn’t included in the starting line-up at Lens anyway.
If a striker and/or a winger are signed then loans out can be expected. Cannon is attracting interest from around the Championship and a season of regular game-time is what he needs for his development. Kasey McAteer could also be let go for a year, with Cardiff and Hull keen.
While the attack is the focus, it doesn’t mean it will be the only area addressed with transfers over the final few weeks of the window. After all, Cooper said he felt the team needed “more than a couple” of recruits.
A full-back could still be on the agenda. Luke Thomas does not appear to be in Cooper’s plans, and so a signing to compete with James Justin, Victor Kristiansen and Ricardo Pereira would ensure City are well-set in that position.
A deeper midfielder would also be welcome, especially if Boubakary Soumare leaves. The Frenchman, of interest to Monaco, is one of four players Cooper has to play in the two sitting midfield roles, alongside Harry Winks, Wilfred Ndidi, and Hamza Choudhury, but it feels like an area that could do with a jolt of quality adding to it, particularly given how poor City were in possession at the weekend.
There are not too many more likely outgoings around the rest of the squad. Ben Nelson is a loan target for Championship clubs, but Conor Coady’s injury may yet scupper his chance of leaving.
But that’s the sort of deal that could be left until later in the window. For now, the focus has to be on getting a striker through the door, with only a few days to do so if City want them lining up against Tottenham next week.