Leicester City Rumour Roundup: End of June

PREFACE: Things are moving fast. One of these “rumours” actually happened while we were writing this. This whole thing may be obsolete tomorrow. C’est la vie!

Good morning and welcome to our annual Leicester City Football Club summer shopping series where we...wait, no? We’re not doing that this year? Why not? That’s Jake’s favourite part of the gig!

An explanation is in order: In the last month or so, the Foxes have been relegated, hired a new manager, and indicated that the financial picture is somewhat less than rosy. On account of this, we really don’t know who will be staying, what sort of players the new manager wants, what our budget might look like, or any of the things that go into trying to craft a shopping list. As such, it would be even more futile than normal to try to speculate as to who City should bring in.

Photo by Simon Hofmann/Getty Images

So, instead, let’s just take a look at what other folks are reporting, try to gauge the impact, and even take a stab at the likelihood of the move actually happening.

Outgoing:

James Maddison

The indefatigable Fabrizio Romano hasn’t given this a “here we go” yet, but...OK, literally while I was writing this, he posted it: Madders to Spurs for £40m.

This is a ridiculously good deal for Spurs. That’s just over one-third what Declan Rice cost Arsenal and, while they’re very different players, most metrics have them dead even in terms of overall quality.

This hurts, but that £40m will go a long way towards rebuilding the squad and steadying the finances.

Fosse Posse Probability Rating: 100%

Harvey Barnes

Barnes has been linked to West Ham in multiple publications. There’s some cruel irony in this, as we desperately wanted Jarrod Bowen to come to the King Power and play on the wing opposite Harvey.

Barnes’ wages aren’t nearly as high as those of other players and his contract about to expire, so there’s far less pressure to cash in on him. It will come down to whether or not he wants to stay. As a player on the fringes of the England squad, we can’t wholly discount the possibility of him wanting a move.

Fosse Posse Probability Rating: 65%

Kelechi Iheanacho

The Seniorman has been linked to Nottingham Forest, which would be a nightmare, as well as to Roma. There’s no question that Leicester could really use a striker of his calibre in the Championship. But, he’s on some serious wages and, as a proven Premier League goalscorer, there’s going to be a lot of interest.

We’d love for him to stay. Watching him against Championship defences would be like watching Matty Fryatt in League One. But, there are probably ten clubs in the PL that could use him (*stares in Evertonian*).

Fosse Posse Probability Rating: 90%

Patson Daka

Daka’s been linked to Roma alongside Iheanacho which just goes to show how much The Special One admires our recruits. Much of what was said about Iheanacho applies here: He’s on a good wage, he’s a proven scorer (albeit not in England), he would wreck the Championship, and he’s still quite young.

We don’t know that Roma is the right fit, but I expect him to move and probably to a club on the continent. He could be the next Andrej Kramaric and you have no idea how much it hurts us to say that.

Fosse Posse Probability Rating: 80%

Timothy Castagne

Castagne’s been linked to a return to Italy with Juventus showing the greatest interest. He’s spent his time at the King Power running his socks off and getting clobbered on a regular basis. He belongs in Italy and we’d be shocked if he didn’t wind up there.

Fosse Posse Probability Rating: 90%

Wilfred Ndidi

This one’s harder to figure out. Wilf is coming off his worst season with the Foxes, so his value is at it’s lowest. That’s also true of other clubs’ interest in him. When he’s right, he’s an absolute destroyer in midfield, but he looked confused and slow last season.

Rumour has it that Brendan Rodgers has an interest in bringing him to Celtic next year. It seems unlikely that the Hoops could afford to buy Ndidi, but a loan move might work out. That’s assuming that the man who inherited Madders’ Drip King title is open to a move to Glasgow.

Fosse Posse Probability Rating: 40%

Dennis Praet

He’s going back to Italy. Surely we’ll let him go. Poor guy. Word is that Torino are in for him and we wish him nothing but the best.

Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images

Fosse Posse Probability Rating: 90%

Incoming:

Conor Coady

City are apparently on the verge of signing Conor Coady from Wolves for something in the £8m range. In Coady, the Foxes are looking for the next Jonny Evans: A veteran presence to stabilize the defence.

He’s coming off a mediocre campaign spent on loan at Everton. When he’s healthy, he’s a bang-average central defender and what a difference one of those would have made last year. The hope is that, by dropping a level, he’ll get his mojo back and be the player who played in four World Cup qualifiers last year.

Fosse Posse Probability Rating: 95%

Joel Piroe

Piroe has banged in 41 goals for Swansea over the last two campaigns and he’s only 23 years old. That’s why we’re interested. That’s why everyone is interested. The top scorers in England at the top two levels over the last two seasons are:

1. 47 - Kane
2. 42 - Salah
3. 41 - Piroe
4. 38 - Gyokeres
5. 36 - Haaland

What’s really interesting about Piroe is that he’s really more of a #10 or a second striker. He excels at long shots, dribbling, and passing, even more so than scoring. We’ll go into more detail if we do actually sign him and we’re very much hoping that will be the case. Hoping. Not expecting.

Photo by Athena Pictures/Getty Images

Fosse Posse Probability Rating: 20%

Tom Cairney

With a raft of midfielders departing, bringing in a player who can fill multiple roles is surely a priority and that is a box which Cairney ticks with a great big Sharpie marker. The 32-year-old Scot has been deployed as a defensive midfielder, a deep playmaker, and an attacking central midfielder.

Much like Coady, Cairney is a player who has had success in the top flight but might be needing to step down a level to get regular playing time. That being the case, we think there may be more than just idle speculation to this one.

Fosse Posse Probability Rating: 40%

Harry Winks

The word is that we’ve made a bafflingly rich offer for Mr. Winks. At 27, he still hasn’t managed to carve out a role for himself as a starter in a top league. Winks is a midfielder who might best be described as “there.” He started 20 matches for Sampdoria on loan last year and left a statistical trail that was almost impossibly faint. He neither scored nor assisted, he never tackles (which is an odd trait for a defensive midfielder), and he struggles with aerial balls.

Curiously, I accidentally wrote this bit about Oliver Skipp instead of Winks, but I had to change almost none of the text. Funny old world, innit?

Fosse Posse Probability Rating: 15%

Zack Steffen

Of all the Manchester City players you were dreaming of bringing to the King Power, Steffen probably wasn’t at the top of the list, was he? He is, however, a solid keeper who is world-class when it comes to saving penalties.

Photo by John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images

The USA international spent last year at Middlesbrough but remains on the Man City books and makes a lot of sense, especially if the club deem either Danny Ward or Daniel Iversen are surplus to requirements.

Fosse Posse Probability Rating: 30%

Bonus Bogus Rumour:

Jamie Vardy to Trabzonspor

No, seriously. Someone is reporting on this.

Fosse Posse Probability Rating: -1,000,000%

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So, that’s what we’re hearing. What do you think?