Head of recruitment departure unlikely to hit transfer plans
MOST WORK LIKELY TO HAVE BEEN DONE BEFORE LEE CONGERTON’S DEPARTURE
LEE Congerton’s exit from Leicester City should not cause too much disruption to the club’s January transfer window.
The head of recruitment, who followed Brendan Rodgers to the King Power Stadium from Celtic in early 2019, is set to leave the club after nearly three years, with reports suggesting he will take over as general manager of Italian side Atalanta.
With less than a fortnight to go until the opening of the January transfer window, it does not seem like ideal timing.
However, much of the work for January will already be completed. Rodgers, Congerton and director of football Jon Rudkin hold regular transfer meetings, with the manager saying in November that he had been involved in some preparation for January.
City’s general plan for transfer windows is to pick out the position where they feel they need to recruit and then, using analytics and more traditional scouting methods, they will settle on a shortlist of three players who fit the bill.
It is then up to Congerton and Rudkin to try to negotiate any deals.
But in terms of identifying the players City will try to bring in, which is much of Congerton’s work in the recruitment team, that has already been done.
Before the summer, City were being linked to Patson Daka and Boubakary Soumare months before the window opened, with the duo identified well in advance of the market.
City also develop pipelines of players, so they know who they can turn to in the event one of the current squad members departs.
Where Congerton’s exit may have an impact is if City have to change their plans for the window at short notice.
That happened in the summer, when Wesley Fofana broke his leg in the final pre-season game, forcing the club to go into the market for a new centre-back, with Jannik Vestergaard signed.
City will hope to avoid such situations next month, but they cannot be ruled out.
Plus, it seems unlikely City will be particularly busy in January. Rodgers has already cast doubt over the business the club might do by saying there’s no money to work with, and that they would “make do with what they have”.
Loan deals will not be out of the question, though, especially if fringe players exit.
Some of those expected to go, like Papy Mendy, will not need replacing, but if Hamza Choudhury nears a move again, as was the case last January and in the summer, City may seek a stand-in.