Leicester City completed three Deals And Sign Successfully

It’s now been a fortnight since Enzo Maresca said he wanted a new midfielder, and yet Leicester City are one down on where they were at the start of January.

Not only have there been no new faces through the door at the King Power Stadium, City suffered a shock when loanee Cesare Casadei was recalled by Chelsea last week. The window has, so far, not played out how Maresca wanted.

That is mostly due to financial restrictions, with the manager admitting his surprise to be informed by the club at the start of the month that sales were necessary to bring in players. But that’s not happened either. Aside from Casadei, the only senior player to leave City is Daniel Iversen, the goalkeeper joining Stoke on loan.

And it doesn’t seem like there is much chance of outgoing deals being sorted any time soon. Maresca said last week that no player had indicated to him of their desire to leave this month, and he was adamant that he was not going to force anybody out.

It leaves City’s transfer business at a deadlock, without any incomings or outgoings on the horizon. But there’s still a week for that to change. If things start moving, here’s what we feel would be an ideal conclusion to the window.

has asked for rather than one who has been identified by the scouting and data teams is old school, Sensi is technically excellent and should slot in comfortably given his previous work under Maresca’s best mate Roberto De Zerbi. It would be a good signing to make to keep the manager happy.

And City do need a new midfielder. Ricardo Pereira can play further forward, but Maresca would prefer him deeper, moving into the centre of the park from a full-back position. And while Wilfred Ndidi will be back earlier than previously thought, it may not be as the Nigerian hopes. In terms of fit players Maresca really trusts to start as a number eight, it does feel like City are just down to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

Sensi’s passing, dribbling, and ball control are far better than Championship standard and he would help City dominate games to an even greater extent than they are already doing. There will be concerns over his fitness given his well-established injury issues, but he’s been consistently fit for the best part of 18 months now, while previously injury-prone players have been managed well by Maresca.

But to be certain City are never caught short, a second midfield signing to truly make up for Casadei’s return to Chelsea would be ideal. It wouldn’t need to be a permanent move, but a young forward-thinking Premier League player who needs more experience would be perfect as someone cheap-ish to bring in and bolster the ranks.

If they can play on the wing too, that would be even better, given City still seem a little short there. That was why the links to Fabio Carvalho were so exciting. He’s proven he can make a difference in the Championship, and can do so from the middle of the pitch or out wide. A player in his mould would be spot on.

Signing another midfielder on top of Sensi would then allow the Italian to occasionally drop into the Harry Winks role, giving the England international a break from time to time. That’s not something he has been afforded often this season.

Make a sale or three

For the above to happen, City need sales. But right now, nobody’s looking to leave. However, if City can find suitors for a couple of those on the fringes, they could then act, neatening up and rebalancing the squad.

Do City need three senior goalkeepers, for example? They haven’t so far, so selling Danny Ward could be an option.

Then there’s Harry Souttar, who is far from a bad player and has done well on the few occasions he’s been called upon, but has found himself without many opportunities at all under Maresca. Especially with Ben Nelson coming through, it wouldn’t be a big miss for City if the big Aussie was sold.