Leicester City agree to deal with FC Porto for full back Ricardo Pereira

The Leicester Mercury is reporting that Leicester City have agreed to their first signing of the summer, bringing in Porto right back Ricardo Pereira on a long-term deal. The Foxes are rumoured to have paid £17.5 million up front with £4.3 million to the Premeira Liga side for the Portugal international’s services.

Who is he?

The 24 year-old started his professional career with Vitória Sport Clube in 2012, starting 30 games for the Premeira Liga side in his first year. After a single season with Vitória, he transferred to Portugese giants FC Porto. He spent two years on loan at Nice before returning to his parent club for the 2017/18 season. In addition, he has moved up through the ranks of the international youth squads and made his senior debut in 2015.

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What can we expect from him?

Pereira’s style of play looks to be a perfect fit Leicester manager Claude Puel’s system which puts a great deal of responsibility on the full backs getting forward and involved in the attack. WhoScored.com rates Pereira as “Very Strong” in “passing”, “key passes”, “dribbling”, and “tackling”. They rate him as “Strong” in “Holding on to the ball”, “defensive contribution”, and “concentration”. In addition, he is said to have “No significant weaknesses.”

Standing only 5’7” tall and rail-thin, Pereira is extremely quick and a tireless runner. He has worked very hard to become an average defender on high balls, but it is unlikely he’ll ever be better. His discipline has been excellent; he has amassed only 14 yellow cards and no reds over the last five years.

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What does this mean for Danny Simpson?

Pereira has been brought in to “provide competition for” Danny Simpson, which may be fairly read as “replace Simpson on day one.” Danny Simpson is a player of simple virtues: He covers for out-of-positions center-halfs (something he has to do to frequently), he’s good in the air. He’s a defense-first full back, a style which has a place, but that place is not in Puel’s starting XI.