Still looking to complete more summer business before deadline day at the end of the month, Leicester City are now reportedly plotting a move to hijack Southampton’s pursuit of a Premier League gem.
Leicester transfer news
The Foxes have had to be careful on the profit and sustainability front so far this summer, hoping to avoid a punishment that would leave their season in disarray before it’s even underway. But that hasn’t stopped them from welcoming several reinforcements and it may not stop them in pursuit of some ambitious additions, such as Steven Bergwijn.
The former Tottenham Hotspur winger could yet make his return to the Premier League courtesy of Leicester in a move that would see the Ajax captain hand Steve Cooper’s attack a significant boost. What’s more, according to Fabrizio Romano, the Foxes have agreed a deal to sign Facundo Buonanotte on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion for the season, with the focus clearly on Cooper’s frontline this month.
After losing Kelechi Iheanacho at the end of his contract and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to Chelsea earlier this summer, Cooper could certainly do with a spark to ignite his attack before the Premier League campaign gets underway, and the Foxes seem to be well aware of that.
Leicester City could seriously bolster their attacking options with this pair of new signings.
According to Paul Joyce of The Times, Leicester are now plotting to hijack Southampton’s move to sign Fabio Carvalho from Liverpool this summer. The Saints have already seen a £15m bid rejected by the Reds and reportedly upped their offer to around £20m in the hope of landing the attacking midfielder. Leicester may now swoop in right under their nose to land an impressive coup.
Carvalho has certainly impressed in pre-season too, scoring in a 2-1 defeat over Arsenal and a 3-0 thrashing of Manchester United. There’s no doubting his quality – Leicester will just be hoping to be the side benefitting from it this season.
“Fantastic” Carvalho would replace Dewsbury-Hall
When Dewsbury-Hall swapped Leicester for Chelsea alongside Enzo Maresca earlier this summer, he left a significant gap in attacking quality that Carvalho could be left to replace in the forthcoming campaign. The Liverpool man has proved his quality in pre-season and, for that matter, whenever he’s received an opportunity outside of Anfield, and has now earned a Premier League chance.
Championship stats 23/24 (via FBref) | Fabio Carvalho | Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall |
---|---|---|
Goals | 9 | 12 |
Assists | 2 | 14 |
Key Passes per 90 | 2.01 | 2.70 |
Minutes | 1,882 | 3,636 |
In an outstanding loan spell at Hull City in the second-half of last season, Carvalho revived his campaign and earned the praise of former manager Liam Rosenior as a result, who said via the Hull Daily Mail: “His mentality is humble. He wants to work. “I have to drag him off the training pitch every day. I walked into our old dressing room yesterday afternoon, he’s cleaning his boots in the sink.
“He’s just so humble, and he’s going to have a great career because he’s got the right mentality and it’s not. The goal pleases me. The goal pleases me, and it’s fantastic and that’s why we brought him in.”