CHOUDHURY SET FOR LOAN DEAL?
WHAT COULD HAPPEN AT THE KING POWER DURING TRANSFER WINDOW
HAMZA Choudhury’s Leicester City future will be assessed this month with manager Brendan Rodgers admitting it is “difficult” for the homegrown midfield to break into his squad. Choudhury, 23, has been linked with a potential switch to Newcastle, Southampton or West Brom in search of more game-time, having fallen behind Papy Mendy as well as Wilfred Ndidi in the defensive midfield pecking order at City.
The academy graduate did not even make the nine-man bench for the 2-1 win at Newcastle on Sunday, a year on from scoring his first City goal at St James’ Park in a 3-0 victory, but he was in the stands after travelling with the team.
Choudhury has played in 10 of City’s 24 games across all competitions so far this season, starting six.
But with Ndidi now fully fit, and with rotation less likely in the Europa League knockout rounds, his opportunities may be fewer in the second half of the campaign.
Asked where Choudhury stood in his future plans, Rodgers replied: “We’ve got a very competitive squad.
“Hamza played a good number of games for us this season, and started, primarily in the Europa League. He’s done really well.
“It’s a difficult one for him, like Sunday he wasn’t in the squad. That’s one we’ll assess over the course of January. It’s very difficult to break into our midfield – Ndidi is one of the best recoverers of the ball, which is the role Hamza plays, and the other one who has performed outstandingly well for us is Papy Mendy.
“He’s a young player that has been in our squad and has contributed well.
“We’ll see over the course of January what happens with Hamza.”
Departures are more likely than incomings for City this January transfer window, with Demarai Gray and Islam Slimani also potentially heading for the exit ahead of the expiry of their contracts this summer.