An early look at how Leicester City’s summer transfer window could pan out with contracts and sales to sort before thoughts turn to bringing players through the door
Three months from now is when the Premier League will begin, thus Leicester City has plenty of time to assemble a side that can fulfill Enzo Maresca’s declared goal of survival.
It’s possible that they lack resources. The club doesn’t want to take the chance of more problems by making big summer purchases because they have already been hit with one charge for allegedly breaking financial regulations and are facing another unless they sell players before the end of June.
But City must first assess their current situation before determining what they want in the summer window and how best to use their budget. The first duty is to sort contracts for those whose deals expire this summer.
Who was allowed to stay and who wasn’t
A maintained list serving as official confirmation ought to arrive shortly. As of right now, it’s believed that negotiations are taking place, if not with Jamie Vardy and Jannik Vestergaard, then at least with Marc Albrighton, Dennis Praet, and Kelechi Iheanacho. Most people are unsure about Wilfred Ndidi’s future, but Maresca has made it clear that he wants to keep him on staff.
After that, sales become the main focus. Because the EFL believed that City was headed toward a violation of the Profit and Sustainability rules (PSR), they were placed under a transfer embargo. Selling may be their only remaining chance to balance the books in time for the conclusion of the accounting period on June 30.
The amount of money City must make to guarantee compliance with the rules is unknown, but the fact that they must let go of players jeopardizes their finest players. In June, Maresca anticipates Premier League interest in Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who is by far the team’s most profitable player. Mads Hermansen and James Justin might also be pursued.
City does have players like Daniel Iversen, Harry Souttar, Victor Kristiansen, and Boubakary Soumare who are surplus to requirements and could help the team; however, selling them might be more challenging than finding a buyer for their best players, particularly at prices that could affect their PSR compliance.
Where City intends to enhance its
The midfield appears to be the area that needs the most work when it comes to team improvement. Even if Dewsbury-Hall stays with the team, Maresca is probably going to want a few fresh faces to sit in the advanced roles behind the striker.
This season, Ndidi has largely filled this position, which appears to be ready for a true offensive midfielder. If Ndidi decides to stay, Maresca has hinted that he might revert to a defensive position, which means City will require a replacement starter to occupy one of the number eight spots. Given the requirements to play in that position, the agreement might be pricey.
But City are also need depth there. They were down one midfield in January when Cesare Casadei returned to Chelsea, and with Praet leaving and Yunus Akgun not likely to return, Maresca is very short on numbers there. It would help massively if Will Alves shows in pre-season that he’s capable of at least being a back-up for those positions.
One transfer City are expected to complete is for Abdul Fatawu. He is on course to make his move from Sporting Lisbon permanent for around £14.5m, but another new winger would come in handy, giving further competition to the Ghanaian, Stephy Mavididi, and Kasey McAteer.
A left-footed defender will also be high on Maresca’s wishlist with Callum Doyle going back to Manchester City. Given they would need to have plenty of quality in possession and have pace to make recovery runs, it could be another expensive deal to do.
