Enzo Maresca was clear. “There is always room for improvement” and this is the mantra Leicester City is entering the January transfer window with.
Also, their registered squad is full, with all 25 places taken, so players will have to leave before anyone arrives. Below, we look at five questions City need to answer before they make a deal.
How to strengthen the defence?
City don’t appear to have been weakened since Callum Doyle injured his knee and James Justin came on, but Maresca has suggested that a left-footed player is better suited to the role as he is better at building attacks from the back. He thinks Justin is better on the right and mentioned the fact that Doyle is the only natural player City have in that position and that it is the only role in the team where City do not have two options.
So it seems that this will be a priority. Also, the links have already started. Last month it was rumoured that Manchester City would sign Boca Juniors left-back Valentin Barca and then loan him directly to Maresco to help him develop in his first months in England. There have also been rumours that City are in the running for Brazilian youth international central defender Lucas Beraldo at a price of £20 million.
City must decide how to strengthen this position. A loan would certainly be easier and cheaper, but it could also deprive them in the summer when Doyle is likely to return to Manchester City. At that time, they will have two players they can bring in.
In this case, buying may be a better option. But the quality of the players City could attract would increase in the summer if he was promoted, and he would then have more money to spend, so he might be better off staying with the purchase.
Where is Yunus Akgun’s best position?
When Yunus Akgun signed for Galatasaray, he was on loan as a wing-back. But after just over a month of his arrival at City, Maresca said that he sees him primarily as an attacking midfielder.
This could have an impact on City’s transfer business. At the end of the summer window, they tried to sign James McAtee on loan from Manchester City because Maresca felt they were short of central midfielders with Dennis Praet out injured for a long time. At the time, they only had Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Wilfred Ndidi and Cesare Casade available, which Maresca felt was not enough.
Since then, Yunus has been considered a midfielder and Praet is healthy again. If they avoid injuries, they will enter January with five options for the attacking midfield, but they would still have plenty of players to choose from, even with Ndidi representing Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations.
So if Yunus is the best in midfield, the question will be whether City need to strengthen there this time. A new winger may also be needed.
In addition to Yunus, City have Stephy Mavididi, Abdul Fatawa, Kasey McAteer and Marc Albrighton. Mavididi in particular has played a lot of football, so Maresca may feel he needs another wide player to complement his attack.
Is Will Alves ready for the first team?
City must also consider whether Will Alves is ready to solve any of the above issues. He recently played the full 90 minutes for the Under-21 national team and despite a year out, he looked in good form, playing with confidence and a threat on the ball.
Maresca said he is a player with “something special”, but is it for now or for the future? If it turns out that he can play for the first team in the second half of the campaign, an attacking transfer might not be necessary.
Alves has mostly played as an attacking midfielder, but he has also played on the left wing, so he could fill the gaps where Maresca might feel he is lacking. It all depends on whether the coach thinks the 18-year-old is ready.
Are three players enough for two positions?
At the moment, Hamza Choudhury is Ricardo Pereira’s assistant in the hybrid full-back role and Harry Winks in the deep centre-back role. This has worked well so far, as Winks and Ricardo have held up well despite previous injury problems. Choudhury hasn’t been needed that often, but when he has been, he has stepped up and provided quality play for the team.
In August, Maresca thought he had the potential to cover those two positions and talked about using Ndidi deeper if needed. So, if he hasn’t changed his mind, it doesn’t look like City will want to strengthen either of those roles, but if there are concerns about Ricardo and Winks surviving the full season, the club may have to consider it.
Which players can they afford to let go without needing a replacement?
Of course, all of the above depends on whether the players leave in the first place, but it is getting harder and harder to figure out who are the candidates to leave. Daniel Iversen and maybe Danny Ward could leave with both out of Maresco’s first two in goal, but it doesn’t look so clear now for Patton Dak, who has scored four goals in four, and Harry Souttar, who has said he wants to stay and fight for his place. The latter two are also absent from international tournaments in January, which could be an obstacle to their departure.
However, if Daka or Souttar were to leave, we would probably not need a replacement for them. They were prepared for both departures in the summer, but have options at forward and central defender.
What if others want to leave? It doesn’t seem likely that many players will be upset about the style of play or the prospect of promotion, but playing time and personal circumstances can influence players’ thinking.
Maresca has previously said that he has instructed the management to sell any player who doesn’t want to be at the club, so even if they have played key roles in the first few months of the season, it is unlikely that the manager will stand in anyone’s way if they want to leave now. In that case, City may need to have options ready for each position, just in case.