ZestVlog

“The window is open, anything can happen!”

Enzo Maresca has probably never uttered a truer statement.

It has been a busy one for manager and club, with 10 players leaving and six coming in, but Leicester are expected to be doing much more business over the final days of the window.

Maresca says he wants another three signings at least, with more depending on outgoings — and there could potentially be a few of them.

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Harry Souttar and Victor Kristiansen — both only having joined the club in January — Daniel Iversen, Boubakary Soumare, Timothy Castagne and Patson Daka were all left out of the matchday squad for the 2-1 win over Cardiff City because of the speculation surrounding all of their futures, Maresca said.

There have also been doubts over many more at the club.

Jannik Vestergaard has been playing a prominent role while new signing Conor Coady is injured, despite stating in an interview in Denmark — one sanctioned by the club — that he is looking to move this summer and has options in one of the top five European leagues. All parties still expect a transfer to happen if the right offer is made, although Maresca is much more positive about Vestergaard than previous manager Brendan Rodgers, who courted him when the player was at Southampton and then disregarded him.

Dennis Praet is another player who was expected to be moving on, with Serie A side Torino keen but unable to afford his fee. The Belgium international has also been featuring more under Maresca, who has stated he is in his plans for his No 8 position.

But there is a further complication. Vestergaard and Praet have one year left on their contracts and are unlikely to commit to new deals after disappointing times at the club. With Leicester having lost seven players on free transfers who had cost them a combined total of £100million ($127.4m) this summer, this is their last chance to get anything back on their investment in the pair. Do they dare let more expensive assets go to waste?

Likewise, Wilfred Ndidi, who seems to now be the third choice for the holding midfielder role but has been reinvented as one of Maresca’s No 8s. He is also in the final year of his contract, as is fellow Nigerian Kelechi Iheanacho.

Iheanacho seems to fit Maresca’s system with his natural ability to come deeper and link play and is now ahead of Jamie Vardy as the preferred centre-forward, but again he is another who could generate decent funds — and there is Premier League interest.

Iheanacho is believed to be one of the six players who had indicated to Maresca that they wanted to leave in pre-season but have since told him they are happy to stay. Yet, a move back to the Premier League would be tempting. Crystal Palace are very interested.

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The conundrum for Leicester is that a top striker in the Championship could make the difference for any promotion-pushing side, as the first few games have demonstrated.

Leicester have the options of Iheanacho, Vardy and Daka as it stands — although Daka is yet to feature once and seems out of the planning. A move away for the Zambia international seems certain.

In contrast to Daka being out of Maresca’s first-team thoughts, defender Wout Faes must be on his mind regularly: the Belgian defender has played 90 minutes in every game this season despite being the subject of speculation, with suitors weighing up offers for him. Faes has four years left on his contract and Maresca values his ability on the ball.

Left-back Luke Thomas, 22, only has one year left on his deal, although it is likely Leicester have an option to extend that by 12 months. Thomas, however, is a conventional left-back — so too is Kristiansen — and Maresca would prefer an equivalent of the options he has on the opposite side: an inverted right-back in Ricardo Pereira matched with Callum Doyle’s ability to play as a third centre-back and left-back.

Having enjoyed European Championship success with England Under-21s, Thomas is on a high at the start of this season, but it won’t help the momentum of his career to be scratching around for minutes. A loan could be a positive solution for all.

This only adds to the list of players in the squad who are either surplus to requirements, have been expected to leave but have yet to do so or are linked with moves away but Leicester would like to keep.

There are 10 players in the final year of their contract: Thomas, Vestergaard, Praet, Vardy, Ndidi, Iheanacho, Alex Smithies, Marc Albrighton, Hamza Choudhury and Wanya Marcal. The focus at the moment will be on who is leaving and coming in, but their situations will have to be factored in and dealt with at some stage.

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They can’t all go this summer — not only as it would leave Leicester with little time to find replacements but also because the goal is to get back into the Premier League quickly and they don’t want to have to rebuy players of a similar calibre. But there are clearly decisions to be made, and questions will be asked about the transfer policy and vision over the last few windows.

The situations surrounding Souttar and Kristiansen (both may be gone just eight months after arriving) and Daka, Soumare and Vestergaard, who arrived two summers ago, demonstrate the failings of previous windows and highlight the new direction Leicester are now moving in under Maresca.

Regardless, there isn’t a panic or scramble to do business. Leicester certainly would like to strengthen, as Maresca has suggested, but if not then there is the feeling the quality in the squad is strong enough to mount a promotion challenge this season. There is potential movement around Castagne and Daka, for example, but if they are still at the club when the window closes they will be needed.

Players currently out of the side would certainly have to be reintegrated and players like Daka and Soumare would still be good options in the Championship, even if there isn’t a long-term plan for them. They may not be players that the club would like to build the team around at this stage but Maresca should be able to make use of them. They were considered Premier League standard and won’t be disregarded.

After relegation, the reality is that some will inevitably have to go, regardless of incomings. Leicester have carried players on good money who have been unable to be included in their Premier League squad because of excess numbers. That was a financial burden they struggled to carry in the Premier League — but now in the Championship it simply isn’t realistic.

Unlike the last few windows, the incomings this summer have improved the side: Harry Winks is Premier League quality, Doyle has looked promising and Mads Hermansen has already impressed in goal.

Coady, despite his injury, is still making his presence felt in the dressing room by travelling to all the away games, while Stephy Mavididi has made a decent start and Cesare Casadei had a dream debut last weekend by scoring the stoppage-time winner against Cardiff.

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More is required — and width is the priority. Palace right-winger Jesurun Rak-Sakyi has been linked and it was hoped a loan deal could be struck — thought to be achievable after Michael Olise signed a new contract at Selhurst Park — but Roy Hodgson has said he wants to keep the 20-year-old.

Elsewhere, reports in Turkey say Leicester have moved for Galatasaray winger Yunus Akgun and are close to a deal. Maresca has also revealed that he wants another central defender with Coady sidelined, and a return to his former club, Manchester City, for Taylor Harwood-Bellis is being explored.

There will be other areas of the squad that will need strengthening but much will be dependent on departures because of the concerns of carrying a large, expensive squad. If Praet or Ndidi — who is admired by Fenerbahce — exits, then clearly another midfielder has to come in to replace them. But the clock is ticking.

Maresca may have wanted much of this business to be done earlier in the window and there has certainly been a level of frustration at the constant questions about transfers. Hope is often not the reality.

The transfer window often turns into a late scramble, and Leicester could be involved in the domino effect again.

(Top photos: Getty Images)

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