While they want to gain a key advantage in the fight to avoid falling into Premier League, Leicester City have now reportedly set their sights on signing a relegation contract Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Leicester transfer news
While the Foxes have shown signs of improvement under Van Nistelrooy, they remain within the bottom three and two points from safety in the Premier League. Their problems were exposed once again against Manchester City, as the out-of-form champions snapped a 13-game winning streak by defeating a Leicester side who simply couldn’t capitalize on their chances on the day.
The performance, Van Nistelrooy claimed, has been impressive at times, but Leicester’s lack of ruthlessness in front of goal combined with how often they are open the other way should spur them to life during the January transfer window.
There are already names such as Chancel Mbemba has threatened to steal the headlines ahead of a potential return to English football, but he’s not the only one reportedly on the Foxes’ radar.
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According to Sky Sports, Leicester City are now eyeing a bargain deal to sign Kyle Walker-Peters from relegation rivals Southampton with the right-back’s current contract expiring at the end of the season.
Opening the door to a cut-price deal, Leicester could begin work behind the scenes on a deal for Walker-Peters which could see him arrive for free in the summer.
Alternatively, if the Saints are looking to cash in rather than lose their defender for free, then it will be interesting to see if they make an early cut-price move at The King Power Stadium in the coming weeks.
The “brilliant” Walker-Peters would be an intelligent signing
Whether on a free in the summer or for a cut price towards the end of his contract this month, Leicester wouldn’t break the bank to sign Walker-Peters – an experienced, reliable defender who is still in the prime of his career. Given Van Nistelrooy’s open, attacking approach, a player of the 27-year-old’s caliber could go a long way to success under the Dutchman if he is to compete for a place with James Justin.
|
Statistics of the Premier League 24/25 (via FBref) |
Kyle Walker-Peters |
James Justin |
|---|---|---|
|
It starts |
17 |
18 |
|
Assists |
2 |
1 |
|
Key passes |
13 |
5 |
|
Ball recovery |
62 |
41 |
Former Southampton boss Russell Martin he was certainly a fan of his as well, telling the club’s official website in the pre-season: “He’s still here. So hopefully it will still be here in a few weeks. But while he is here, we talked and we need him to help us because he is a really top player. He’s been great and he’s a fit, fit guy. He is so well trained.
»He is ready to remove all the noise around him in an instant to help us. And it’s really easy to say it’s his job and all that stuff, but when you’re in a situation like that and there’s a lot of noise and speculation it can be difficult sometimes, but yeah, he was great, really good in those 60 minutes and that’s going to be for him be very important”.
