The transfer window may be closed but clubs up and down the country can still bring in free agents provided they have space in their registered squads.
City are expected to have one gap in their 25-man Premier League line-up, but it’s not thought they will attempt to fill it, at least not until January. But they do have one free agent training at the club.
Former midfielder Matty James is back at City, training at Seagrave as he looks to keep up his fitness while he searches for a new club. He was let go by Bristol City during the summer and is yet to find a new home.
The 33-year-old left City in 2021 after an injury-hit nine years at the club. In 2019, during his recovery from an Achilles injury, he helped out with the young players at the club, with then-manager Brendan Rodgers describing him as a “good thinker of the game”, with coaching providing him something else to focus beyond his injury rehab.
While he’s at Seagrave to keep fit, he’s doing the same again, working with the club’s academy. Manager Steve Cooper said: “Matty is keeping fit and offering a bit back to the younger players. I think he’s waiting for his next club but that’s not for me to talk about.”
Cooper gets ‘valuable’ insight from Albrighton and King
Cooper, meanwhile, has been leaning on City icons to help him learn more about his new club. After the opening game of the season against Spurs, he bumped into Marc Albrighton and Andy King in the car park outside the King Power Stadium, and picked their brains for what he described as “valuable information”.
Discussing Albrighton, who announced his retirement last week, Cooper said: “I spoke to him and Andy King for about half an hour. There’s been some really successful times here and you need guys like Marc Albrighton to be amongst it and you can tell that’s the way he’s thought about by team-mates and staff members.
“It was a good conversation I had with him. I learned a lot, not just about him, but about the club and some of the things he told me can be valuable for a new manager. I’d like to make the time again to get even more information out of him. These guys are really important because they have a legacy at the club. The more information I can get from them, the better.”
OH Leuven make unbeaten start
While City are yet to get their first win in the Premier League, their sister club OH Leuven are yet to lose. A 2-0 victory over Standard Liege on Saturday saw Leuven extend their unbeaten start to six matches, with Anderlecht the only other undefeated side.
Four of those six matches have been draws, so Leuven only sit sixth in the table. But they are just one point off top spot, with newly-promoted side Dender the surprise leaders after the first month of competition action.
Finishing in the top six would be a huge achievement for the club. Not only would it be their best finish since King Power took over – they’ve finished 11th twice and 10th twice over the past four seasons in the top flight – it would qualify them for the champions’ play-offs, which would give them a chance to go for the title and to qualify for Europe.
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