Four possible deals for Foxes before transfer window closes
LEICESTER City could be one of the Premier League’s busiest clubs over the final hours of the transfer window with potentially four deals for senior players in the offing.
Here’s a look at what could happen before 11pm tonight...
Lookman signs
A new winger is the glaring need for City and they are doing their utmost to get a deal done before the deadline.
Manager Brendan Rodgers suggested at the weekend that City had lined up a target, while the Mercury were told the club had a player in mind whose name had not yet emerged publicly.
That ruled out players such as Domenico Berardi and Daniel James, and while Ajax’s David Neres was linked over the weekend, he is not a target.
Yesterday morning, Ademola Lookman’s name came to the fore, with City now focusing their attention on trying to get a deal done for the RB Leipzig wide-man.
It’s understood they are hopeful of doing so, with a deal likely to be an initial loan.
He spent last season on loan at relegated Fulham, where he scored four goals and provided four assists, including one goal in the Cottagers’ 2-1 victory at the King Power Stadium in November.
The 23-year-old came through the ranks at Charlton before moving to Everton, where he struggled to get a run of games in the team.
Lookman would be City’s fifth signing of the window, following Patson Daka, Boubakary Soumare, Ryan Bertrand, and Jannik Vestergaard.
But with no high-profile, bigmoney sale this summer, for the first time since City won the title, more fringe players need to be sold to free up the funds…
Praet leaves for Torino
An exit for Dennis Praet has been a possibility since the start of the summer, and he now has a destination in Italian side Torino.
The Belgian is due to return to Serie A – he initially joined City from Sampdoria in 2019 – on a loan-tobuy deal, with a reported €15 million (£13m) fee set. With the deal at an advanced stage, only an unlikely hitch could stop it going through.
Praet struggled for game-time last season, particularly after he recovered from a hamstring injury, while City have since been bolstered in midfield, with Soumare arriving and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall promoted to the first-team squad.
Choudhury leaves for Newcastle
With those midfield changes, and with Rodgers’ desire to rebalance his options in the centre of the park and make them more attacking, Hamza Choudhury could also go.
He nearly left for Newcastle in January, and that would be his most likely destination again.
In the winter window, Rodgers said he would prefer a sale than a loan, and that remains City’s stance, albeit Newcastle seem only able to afford a loan deal and nothing more.
There is also the Magpies’ goalkeeping situation which could prove a stumbling block.
They currently have first-choice duo Martin Dubravka and Karl Darlow on the sidelines, with Freddie Woodman between the sticks so far this season and with Mark Gillespie on the bench.
Given the injury issues, Newcastle boss Steve Bruce is considering registering all four in his 25-man Premier League squad, which would close up a gap and may stop them pursuing Choudhury.
Benkovic exits
When the club have five defenders unavailable and yet choose to include a second goalkeeper on the bench ahead of you, it’s a sign that you may not have a future there.
While he played in pre-season, Filip Benkovic has so far been left out of the matchday squad.
Even in desperate circumstances as is the case for City at the back at the moment, it is not felt that he is needed, while there is hope Vestergaard and Jonny Evans will be close to fitness after the international break.
Rodgers said before last season that Benkovic wasn’t ready for the Premier League and, after a year in which he played just once across two loan spells, he has not had the chance to improve.
So he could either leave on loan or permanently over the next two days to a club where he will get opportunities.
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LOOKMAN MAY COME IN, BUT PRAET, CHOUDHURY AND BENKOVIC COULD BE LEAVING