How Leicester City transfer budget impacts plans as under-21s’ limited chances assessed

Questions answered on Leicester City transfers, Steve Cooper’s tactics, the performances in pre-season friendlies, the best line-up to take on Tottenham, and more

Leicester City have gone three weeks without a new signing and their squad doesn’t feel ready yet for the rigours of a relegation battle.

Fans are naturally getting a little restless, wanting to see Steve Cooper backed and given the best chance possible of keeping the club up. And so, transfers, City’s budget, and striker signings were all on the agenda during our latest Q+A.

Also up for discussion were the performances in pre-season friendlies, how best to line up, the use of young players, Cooper’s tactics, and more. You can read our answers below.

Q: We get linked with players day after day, yet we still haven’t brought in an attacking midfielder to replace KDH or brought in at least one decent striker. Do you think we will actually do these critical deals or are we really that desperate for money?

A: I definitely think they will bring in an attacking midfielder, yes. I think that would be a priority over a striker, simply because they do have players who can play up front, it’s more of a question of quality. In attacking midfield, bar De Cordova-Reid, they don’t have any senior players to operate there, and even then, I think the Jamaica international will mostly be used as a winger, as competition for Fatawu and Mavididi.

But yes, as the window’s gone on, it’s become more apparent to me that the budget is tight. A number of names have cropped up and I’ve been told that they’re simply not within the finances available to the club. With Reiss Nelson for example, there definitely were preliminary talks and City explored a deal, but have since backed away. So yes, bargain, clever deals are the order of the day.

Q: I know we shouldn’t read too much into friendlies, but they’ve been so uninspiring, especially in an attacking sense. How worried should we be about them? Any idea what the pre-season performances were like for the season we got relegated?

A: I’d probably be a tiny bit concerned. I agree, there’s not been much to shout about from an attacking perspective, while I think they’ve looked a little ropey when defending on the transition too.

But I would say that there is a clear system in place, which I think is a positive, and there have been moments in games that have been promising, and should get better when the team are on a better wavelength. Like against Augsburg, towards the end of the first half, De Cordova-Reid started to make some nice runs into the box and Fatawu and Mavididi started to link with him. They’ll get better at that when they’ve played with De Cordova-Reid more.

I’d also add that the teams they’ve played against have sat quite deep, and I don’t think many of City’s opponents will do that this season. There seems to be a greater willingness to use speed and hopeful lofted balls in attack under Cooper, but Palermo and Augsburg have sat deep, and so they’ve not really been able to use those weapons.

As for the pre-season performances in 2022, they were pretty good. They thumped Hull 4-0 and played really well, and then they were solid in the other games too, beating Derby, Preston, and Sevilla. It was when the season officially started that it went downhill.

Q: Do you think we need a striker and who?

A: Yes, I’d like to see a new striker come in. Vardy, Daka, and Cannon are all pretty similar in their style of play and so I’d like to see a different mould of striker come in. I don’t necessarily want to say a target man, but maybe someone with a bit more strength, someone who’s better at receiving the ball to feet with their back to goal and can hold it up.

I think Cannon would benefit from a year on loan in the Championship playing regularly. If this is to be Vardy’s last season, which it seems like it could be, then Cannon should be in a better place to come in and replace him from next summer onwards.

Q: Does the fact we are a newly-promoted team means we have to play with two defensive midfielders who get in each other’s way? It’s obvious that Winks can play as a sole defensive midfielder. If we don’t have the money to sign players, let’s give the U21s a chance. Alves as a 10, Ricardo as a mixed midfielder and Winks as a pivot is the best we can line up and none of them would get in each other’s way. Each one knows the position. I would try it against Lens.

A: I nearly totally agree with that, yep. That stood out to me against Palermo and Augsburg too. Against Palermo, Winks and Soumare were occupying the same spaces to the point that Soumare wasn’t in the game. Against Augsburg, Ndidi drifted between positions, leaving Winks isolated and easy to mark out of the game.

I do think it’s under-appreciated how well the combination worked between Ricardo and Winks last season because of how easy they made it look to ensure that they were always giving the centre-backs two options. So yes, if it’s a game where City are going to have a lot of the ball, then I’d play Ricardo next to Winks to have two ball-playing outlets for the defence to connect with. In games where City are going to be under pressure a little more, I’d have Ndidi in as defensive protection.

Q: I know money is tight and am thankful for that. Maybe the club have finally accepted that they have to be more realistic with their spending. But there have been plenty of deals done for players who I thought we might be interested in (e.g. Gronbaek to Rennes, Brereton-Diaz to Southampton, Gabriel Sara to Galatasaray) for fees which are lower than we have either already spent or have allegedly bid for the likes of Soule, Bergwijn, etc. Do you think those players weren’t on our radar, wanted too high wages or do you think the looming points deduction is putting some targets off?

A: I’d probably lean more towards them not being on the club’s radar. I don’t think for any of those examples you’ve given that wages would have been too high, and I don’t think the looming points deduction will put too many players off, particularly if they’re not already current Premier League players.

No matter who you play for in the Premier League, you’re getting a lot more exposure than you would in any other league in the world, which is great for furthering your career. So I don’t think that will be a big factor in any prospective signing’s decision.