Football Season Guide

Leicester City

In


Timothy Castagne (def) Atalanta; Filip Benkovic (def) Bristol City – end of loan; Rachid Ghezzal (mid) Fiorentina – end of loan; Adrien Silva (mid) Monaco – end of loan; Islam Slimani (att) Monaco – end of loan; Fousseni Diabate (att) Amiens – end of loan;

Out


Ben Chilwell (r) (def) Chelsea; Ryan Bennett (sp) (def) Wolves – end of loan; Andy King (sp) (mid) released; George Thomas (mid) QPR; Bartosz Kapustka (mid) Legia Warsaw;

Leicester had very good last season and for long they looked cemented in the top 3, but then the form dipped post-Christmas. Also the Foxes failed to deal with the COVID-break, which ultimately led to them dropping out of the top 4 in the penultimate round and dramatically missing out on Champions League football. Important left-back Ben Chilwell joined rivals Chelsea, but Timothy Castagne signed as direct replacement. This and the fact that top scorer Vardy will be a year older not giving much of an encouragement for Leicester’s prospects right now. Of course, with transfers possible all the way until October things can change if Leicester strengthen. Right now the outlook for next season looks a bit grey, especially with the star right-back Pereira long-term absentee and Chilwell leaving. The threat coming from the full-backs major part of Leicester’s tactical approach and the Foxes might be struggling in the early months. That if newcomer Castagne doesn’t adapt surprisingly fast and starts producing top class displays. Coach Rodgers should continue using his best forward weapon Vardy extensively, although the striker will turn 34 midway through the season and the 19-game goal drought he suffered last term is reason for serious concern. Fluid passing and great use of the counterattack weapon amongst the main strengths, while the clear weaknesses are the lack of depth and Vardy’s advanced age. Leicester will also struggle to find balance between domestic commitments and Europa League fixtures if they don’t add players to their ranks.

Target


Aim is to qualify for Europe, but this would be difficult to achieve without further strengthening and right now even a top 8 finish looking unlikely.