Leicester City have taken a closer look at Liverpool centre-back Jarrell Quansah, according to Alan Nixon.
The Foxes are reportedly keen to sign a central defender during the January transfer window as they look to strengthen their squad sufficiently, something that will give them the best chance of securing promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
Although this isn’t a hugely problematic area at this point with Wout Faes, Jannik Vestergaard and Conor Coady available as excellent options at this level, their depth could determine whether they seal a top-two spot or not.
They may have made an excellent start to the season, but Leeds United will have been encouraged by the Foxes’ back-to-back losses before the international break and some teams including the Whites and Southampton may feel as though they still have a chance of securing automatic promotion.
Less than half the season has been played and there’s still a lot to play for, so the January window could make a considerable amount of difference.
Why should Leicester City strengthen their central defence?
Looking at their squad, they could benefit from bringing in another full-back and a striker if Patson Daka goes, but Enzo Maresca is also wise to look at his centre-back department.
Coady, Doyle, Faes, Harry Souttar and Jannik Vestergaard are all available in this department – but Doyle spent part of the season at left-back and could return there in place of James Justin when he recovers from his knee injury.
With this in mind, the Foxes will lack depth in central defence if they sustain injuries in this area and they probably will considering they are currently battling through a gruelling 46-league game season.
There could also be suspensions, so Top Srivaddhanaprabha probably won’t be against investing in a new centre-back, especially considering the amount of money they generated from player sales during the previous transfer window.
With Leicester having space to include another loanee in their squad, Quansah could be a cheap and suitable addition.
How could Leicester City’s potential move for Jarrell Quansah benefit Harry Souttar?
Considering Quansah would be coming in to compete with Souttar, some people will argue that the former’s arrival would be bad for the latter.
But even without Quansah at the club, Souttar’s game time could be limited.
If one of Faes or Vestergaard become unavailable, Coady will probably fill in and Doyle can operate there too if Maresca wants to keep Justin in the starting 11.
The arrival of Quansah could knock Souttar out of the first-team squad altogether and at that point, Souttar would be fully justified in submitting a transfer request.
It does feel as though Souttar needs someone to force him out of Leicester’s squad so he can move on and kickstart his career.
Although there’s still a chance he can force his way into Maresca’s starting lineup, it doesn’t seem as though it will happen anytime soon and at such an important time of his career, he needs to try and secure an exit from the King Power Stadium.
Quansah’s potential arrival, even on loan, could allow Souttar to seal his departure.