leicester city
Leicester City could lose on-loan midfielder Boubakary Soumare
Over the summer, head coach Enzo Maresca managed to rebuild Leicester’s squad by selling many of the players who took part in the side’s relegation from the Premier League last season. The likes of Caglar Soyuncu, Timothy Castagne, Jonny Evans, Youri Tielemans and James Maddison were sold or let go during the previous transfer window.
Maresca brought in players such as Stephy Mavididi, Abdul Fatawu, Harry Winks, and Conor Coady, just to name a few, who have helped turn the Foxes into the best side in England’s second tier this season.
Nevertheless, the January transfer window offers the club to chance to offload some more deadwood. Corriere dello Sport, via TeamTalk, are reporting that Napoli have dropped their interest in Tottenham Hotspur’s Pierre Emile Hojbjerg and West Ham United’s Pablo Fornals and have now turned their attention towards Soumare.
The midfielder moved to the King Power Stadium back in 2021 for a reported £17 million and went on to make 59 appearances for the Leicestershire club.
After the side’s condemnation to the Championship, the Frenchman was sent on loan to Sevilla but may be recalled early if Napoli’s interest is serious, with his market value now sitting at merely £4 million, as per the CIES Football Observatory.
The former Premier League champions are walking the league at the moment, currently sitting top of the Championship by ten points, having accumulated 65 points from a possible 78 so far.
Leicester City are chasing the league’s record points total of 106, which is still held by League One side Reading to this day. Based off projects, Maresca’s men are predicted to end the season with 115 points which would be extraordinary.
It was reported during the summer that Leicester were hoping to recoup the money they spent on Soumare which could allow Maresca to strengthen his squad even further for the second half of the campaign.
Writer’s View
Despite being Europa League champions, Sevilla have found themselves deep into a relegation battle in La Liga. Soumare’s price may be falling by the second so Leicester City could try and offload him as soon as possible.
Furthermore, Soumare is said to be on £58k-per-week which is quite high for a team in the Championship so perhaps getting him off the books could be beneficial for the club in the long run, particularly if Maresca sees no future for him in the squad.
