Leicester City Summer Shopping 2022: Your picks (and mine)

Do we really need another piece about hypothetical summer signings? A couple of notes in favour:

1. The list of current signings is as empty as Harry Kane’s trophy room right now. What else are we going to discuss?
2. This is my favourite part of the job.

Are you ready for more? Let’s take a look at the results of the polls for each of the summer shopping pieces and see who the fans want to bring in and I’ll play God with my own selections, since no one but Jack can stop me. I’ll give you all this: You have very good, and very expensive, tastes. I’d estimate the poll winners would cost about £200,000,000 combined, and that’s with one of them on a free.

One last note before I get to it: The poll widget on this site won’t allow more than one selection, so I just took the top two vote-getters at the positions where we are looking for a couple of new signings.

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Right Winger:

Your Pick: Noni Madueke
My Pick: Noni Madueke

Madueke got 67% of the fan vote, which is impressive as there were some excellent options here. However, I have to agree: Madueke is the obvious choice here. His pace, his directness, and his...Englishness?...all count in his favour. He’d be a big improvement now and I don’t think he’s anywhere near his peak. I have no clue if we’re really going to sign him, but of all the players on the list, I think his arrival would be met with the most enthusiasm amongst City supporters.

Photo By Seb Daly/Sportsfile via Getty Images

Left Back:

Your Pick: David Raum
My Pick: Javi Galan

Things were a good deal tighter at left-back, where David Raum just edged “none of the above” in the voting with 38% of the vote. Raum is a fabulous choice and, to be perfectly honest, the best player on the list. But, he’s not my choice. I’m going with Galan because, at 27 years old, he’s the finished article and will be ready to move on or take a lesser role when Luke Thomas is ready to be The Man.

Photo by Joris Verwijst/Orange Pictures/BSR Agency/Getty Images

Central Defenders:

Your Picks: Bremer and James Tarkowski
My Picks: James Tarkowski and Levi Colwill

For the 2022/23 season, you lot got it exactly right. Bremer and Tarkowski topped the voting with 28% and 22% respectively. Tarkowski is at the same point in his career as Evans was when we snapped him up, and, with no disrespect to Jonny, Tark’s put up better numbers at the same age each year up to this point. With Evans’ availability, if not performance, starting to fall off, adding another veteran leader seems an obvious call.

I went with Colwill over Bremer because, while the big Brazilian is obviously the more finished article, my sense is that Colwill could be something really special. I wouldn’t say “another Fofana” but I am absolutely thinking “another Fofana.”

Photo by Dave Howarth - CameraSport via Getty Images

Central Midfielders:

Your Picks: Ibrahim Sangare and Orkan Kokcu
My Picks: Ibrahim Sangare and Houssem Aouar

There was a massive gap between numbers 1 and 2 in the voting, with Sangare getting 64% and Kokcu finishing second with 14%. Perhaps it’s just having seen Sangare play, but he seems like the sort of player every team should covet. Kokcu certainly looks like a monster and I can’t argue with his selection. If there’s a ready-made #8 out there to replace Youri, he’s the man.

But here’s the thing: Having seen a lot of Aouar, I’m convinced that he’s the true successor to Mahrez even if he isn’t a winger. He’s “mercurial” in the best sense of the word, gliding past defenders as though they didn’t exist. I think Kokcu may be the safer bet and the better fit; I just think Aouar may be one of those generational talents.

Photo by Photo Prestige/Soccrates/Getty Images

Others:

Your Pick: Charles de Ketelaere
My Pick: Robert Skov

In this grab-bag of a category, the fact that there wasn't a solid consensus is hardly a surprise. De Ketelaere got 36% of the vote and he’s pretty clearly the best player on the list. He’s also getting the most press (although some of that press is “He has stated that he does not want to come to Leicester), and he’s a wildly exciting talent and someone who you find a way to get on the pitch even if there isn’t an obvious role for him in our current setup.

Of course, you knew I was going to be Skov. I am a Skov Stan. It just doesn’t seem possible that a player who can fill so many obvious needs wouldn’t be a big boost to this squad. He might not even start for us (although I think you could argue he’d start at left-back or right attacking midfield currently), but he’d provide a solid backup at four positions. As much as I hate to admit it, Marc Albrighton may be the G.O.A.T., but he’s not immortal.

Photo by Tolga Bozoglu - Pool/Getty Images

So, that’s sorted, eh? Leicester City’s summer transfers: Done and dusted? Not so fast. Next week, we’re going to go into why I don’t actually believe any of these transfers are going to happen. It’s fun to dream, though, isn’t it?