It’s a couple of months away, and January transfers are not desperately required with City doing so well in the Championship, but that won’t stop them from thinking about business they could do
With the way Leicester City have started the campaign, January transfer business may not seem necessary.
It is usually the window of the desperate, as City were at the start of this year when they brought in Harry Souttar, Victor Kristiansen, and Tete in an attempt to steer themselves away from relegation. Even if they were to suffer a small drop in form between now and the new year, City are not going to be in a position where new signings are urgently required.
However, that does not mean there won’t be any deals whatsoever. There’s the potential for a few incomings and outgoings, and the recruitment team behind the scenes will already be mulling it over. Here’s a look at what could happen.
Although Enzo Maresca has denied that City have considerable squad depth, he would probably admit they do have an excess of goalkeepers. They don’t need five.
Danny Ward and Daniel Iversen, who were number one and deputy goalkeeper at different stages last season, have been relegated to choices three and four with the arrival of Mads Hermansen and the rise of Jakub Stolarczyk, and so it’s possible both might leave in January.
Failing to make a club appearance has so far not harmed Ward’s international career and he remains Wales’ number one, but to give himself the best chance of keeping that role, and of being in form should qualification to next year’s Euros be secured, he is likely to want game-time between now and next summer.
For Iversen, even further down the pecking order, he will want a new club that values his shot-stopping qualities. His loan season at Preston two years ago shows he has a very decent career in the game if he finds the right club. There should be interest in him.
Daka (and maybe Souttar) could go too
He was extremely close to joining Bournemouth on deadline day in the summer, and has only managed one substitute appearance in the Carabao Cup since then, so a move for Patson Daka seems like it could be on the cards. And that’s before the fitness of Tom Cannon is even considered. Once the £7.5m arrival from Everton is fit and ready to go, Daka will be pushed further towards the fringes.
It feels like the only barrier to Daka leaving in the winter transfer window is the Africa Cup of Nations, with the striker’s focus on Zambia’s fortunes at the competition. It begins on January 13.
Harry Souttar has had more opportunities than Daka, but not many more. He was also close to leaving in the final week of the summer window, and if his game-time does not pick up, he may be keen to look for more regular football elsewhere as well.
A new defender could arrive
That’s particularly with City possibly signing a new defender come January. Callum Doyle’s knee injury, which will keep him out until the new year, has shown that City are short on left-footed options at the back, and Maresca has been clear that with James Justin filling in, it does change how his team is able to play.
City won’t want to be caught in such a situation again for the remainder of the season, while they also have to consider that Doyle is likely to return to Manchester City at the end of the campaign. In that case, it makes sense to bolster their ranks.
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