Leicester City will know that they have a significant portion of cash to now play around with in the transfer market after offloading star midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to Chelsea for £30m.
The Foxes managed to acquire their own midfield talent from Stamford Bridge in the process, winning the services of 18-year-old starlet Michael Golding for £4m as cash begins to be splashed at the King Power Stadium.
The newly promoted Premier League side are unlikely to stop there when it comes to new recruits, but there will be a temptation to be more frugal, especially with a reported transfer target available for free.
Leicester eyeing up free-agent attacker
According to the Athletic, Steve Cooper’s Foxes are considering a move for free agent attacker Callum O’Hare this summer after signing Bobby Decordova-Reid.
O’Hare had been with Coventry but didn’t sign a new contract with the Sky Blues and is now available as a free agent.
However, Leicester aren’t alone in their alleged interest of the entertaining 26-year-old, with suitors from the likes of Leeds United and Southampton previously keen on the ex-Aston Villa man also.
What O’Hare can offer Leicester
This could be an ingenious move from Leicester to ensure they don’t dent the bank too much, considering Cooper and Co are also sniffing around for the services of Celtic star Matt O’Riley, but his extortionate price tag could prove to be a major stumbling block here.
The Sun have reported that the Glasgow titans have slapped a £50m asking price above their prized asset to unsettle suitors, with the Foxes one keen party.
So, that’s benefit number one. Benefit number two is their current lack of attacking midfield options, owing to Dennis Praet being released by the Foxes. As a result, O’Hare feels like a smart signing to make with the 26-year-old eyeing up the Premier League after being a nuisance for many a Championship defence over the past couple of seasons.
Leicester also have the likes of Harry Winks and new recruit Golding that can do a job in the central midfield ranks where O’Riley slots into, with a move for £25m-rated Benfica gem Florentino Luis also in the works, away from attempting to get a bumper deal over the line for the much talked about Celtic man.
O’Hare had shone for Mark Robins’ Sky Blues in the second tier before leaving, a league which O’Riley has never competed in away from previously playing in League One for Milton Keynes Dons, with the 26-year-old picking up ten goals and four assists last campaign from all competitions.
Missing the start of the season recovering from a serious injury, it didn’t take long for the ex-Villa youngster to blow off the cobwebs and excel under Robins again, as can be seen glancing at the table above.
Premier League fans will already know what O’Hare is capable of if they tuned into Coventry’s unbelievable FA Cup journey last campaign, with the “dangerous” attacking midfielder – as he has been described in the past by football journalist Josh Bunting – running rings around Wolverhampton Wanderers in a memorable 3-2 victory at Molineux.
O’Hare would attempt four dribbles and win five duels from just twenty minutes of action against the top-flight side, with his mazey darts forward playing a huge part in the plucky Sky Blues eventually progressing at the expense of Wolves.
The capture of O’Riley might look like more of a statement purchase, but if there isn’t a bottomless pit of money to play with even with the sale of Dewsbury-Hall injecting cash, snapping up the former Coventry man for free would be a shrewd bit of business.
