Muzzy_Larsson

I'm not saying it's as black and white and that, I said those 4 as I think it's hard to argue against, the rest depending on people's opinions could be debated all day. I'm not talking about finance or how much money players are on or anything like that I'm talking about a squad of footballers and general depth of the squad and imo Man Utd still have the better squad. Of course Leicester have a more cohesive unit and are getting more out of what they have, I alluded to exactly that in a previous post. Leciester can and hopefully may well finish ahead of Man Utd, Chelsea or Arsenal this season but at this point in time, looking at the squads and overall strength in depth in general imo I find it hard to believe Leicester have a stronger squad than any of them. As poor, disjointed and in turmoil as they all were last season they still all finished ahead of you guys.

Mata I'll give you but come on, your not having Rashford or Martial in your starting XI? Ahead of folk like Gray and Albrighton? If you signed either of those two tomorrow this place would be in raptures.

This is bit in bold is key. I could perhaps see the sense in overspending for someone like Dunk if there was no experienced head already there but Evans is probably one of if not the best centre back outside the top 4 and has bundles of EPL experience so he's the ideal partner to help bring on Soyuncu and/or Benkovic.

Like I said this Benkovic being prone to injury is becoming a bit of an urban myth. He played circa 30 games for us last season, missed a chunk of the season after Christmas as we gambled playing him at Ibrox when he was injured. He was then available the last 6-7 games of the season, most of which were dead rubbers so we didn't risk him, probably not wanting to send him back to Leciester injured. Adding those in he'd have played close to 40 games for us last season, that's not injury prone by any means. In addition to this you guys play far less games than us so there'll be more scope for rest for him between games which will make a huge difference.

Well Rodgers is seemingly very impressed with what he's seen of Soyuncu this summer and if that report is true so much so that he's prepared to forego signing another CB. The injury prone thing with Benkovic is a myth, he played circa 30 games for us last season, ok he picked up a couple of injuries but that doesn't make him injury prone, thats hyperbole. I keep going back to it but VVD had played for a mediocre Gronigen side, a regular there for one season and then in Scotland, Wanyama was only ever a regular in Scotland, Andy Robertson went from Dundee Utd to the Hull first team in the EPL. You can't not give players a chance simply because of the league they played in, they've clearly shown enough to be signed in the first place and why sign them at all if they aren't going to be given the chance. May end up with egg on my face but having seen lots of both I'm happy to hang my hat on the fact that Benkovic is already a better player than Dunk, regardless of what level he's playing at, sometimes players come along and it's obvious they're that good they'll cope at virtually any level, VVD was one and Benkovic is in the same mould based on my viewing.

Not disagreeing with any of what you say but i'm sticking to my point, as dysfunctional as these clubs are at a present they are still on the whole, on paper anyway stronger than Leicester in terms of squad depth. IMO DDG, Pogba (as overrated as he is), Rashford, Martial, Mata all get in your side comfortably.

The only one I said that was conclusively better is Anderson. However you want to spin it he is most certainly better than any of Leicester's wide options at present, in the same way Vardy is obviously better than any of West Ham's striking options.

That's the thing a lot seem to be missing in this thread, the club have replaced Maguire, in fact they have already replaced him with two players, both Soyuncu and Benkovic were signed on that premise last summer so in that sense you are ahead of the game and don't need to go scurrying out to the market to panic buy and pay over the odds for someone like Dunk. Top 6 as good as it would be to get there isn't some sort of holy grail, it only gets European football. If I were a Leicester fan I'd much rather the club was planning progressively for the years ahead and to be punching at that level consistently as opposed to going all in to make it for one season at the expense of the two or three seasons that follow.

All about personal opinions but I'd say Anderson is better than any option Leicester have out wide at the moment and Vardy is better than any option West Ham have at centre forward (including Haller if they get him). Yarmalenko and Perez are debatable and the proof will be in the pudding this season, Yarmalenko hasn't really got going at West Ham yet as good as a player as he is and Perez still has to prove himself at Leicester.

I think you guys are in with a great chance of breaking the top 6 this season and as much as you have an exciting you squad I think that statement is really getting ahead of yourselves. As poor as the aforementioned teams are in relation to great sides they had in the past they still have much greater depth than Leicester at present, a large part of the problem for these clubs is that they currently, for whatever reason can't seem to get the best out of the players at their disposal in terms of a cohesive starting XI. The clubs mentioned can bring guys like Martial, Mata, Willian, Kovacic, Lacazette and Guendouzzi off the bench. Leicester's similar alternatives are guys like Gray, Albrighton, and Mendy. Still a fair bit behind these teams on paper in terms of depth, that doesn't mean though that with a bit of luck you can't finish ahead of any of these teams this season. One thing going for Leicester ahead of these clubs is stability and a current upward trajectory which can count for a lot.

That would be a very sensible decision imo if true.

That's pretty much how the media up in Scotland work lol! That and trawling fans forums and rehashing what they find as stories lol!

Did West Ham not finish level on points with you guys last season? They look to have done some excellent business so far this window and bar Arnautovic who had downed tools anyway they've kept all their big players thus far, which should really improve them so can see them being a real threat this season.

Benkovic is right footed but played comfortably at LCB for us last season. Your manager has said countless times when at Celtic and at Leicester that Benkovic is most certainly ready at EPL level. I'd also say based on all the players we've sold to the EPL in the last ten years or so he looks as ready as anyone we have sold who has gone on to do well in the EPL.

Franny Jeffers too lol!

He has 1 cap and tbh England have capped a few very average players at CB in recent years. For what it's worth I think Dunk is a fairly solid EPL centre back, he's not a bad player it's just that the money being spoke of makes him vastly overpriced and in addition to that not as good as the guy he is replacing. Like a few have alluded to, the EPL market is bonkers but a wise strategy would be to leverage that when selling and look somewhere else when buying in search of greater value, good scouting and forward planning should mitigate the risk in this regard. Look at West Ham in this regard and the signings they have made over the last 12 months, some excellent pieces of business, players who would have cost 2-3 times as much if it was EPL to EPL business.

That was the one signing Rodgers wanted last summer, he was available for £3m due to Deportivo being relegated however we couldn't compete on the wages with Newcastle and he went there, a shame as he had a great season for them.

When you look at how much it would cost for someone like Callum Wilson, reported to be close to £60m then £45m on Haller is decent business from West Ham imo. They look to be putting together a very decent side, if everything clicks they could be the team to watch this season.

He's actually strolled it in the pub league up north, absolutely cruised it and would be more than comfortable in the EPL. We know a thing or two about good defenders when we see them given we sold the current best defender in the world to the EPL a few years ago.

Again football is down to opinions but Ake is a far better player than Dunk imo and years younger also.

Yeah think a lot of clubs will be kicking themselves after missing out on Anderson.

£35m buddy

Think that's the point, someone like Ake would be a far better use of the money than Dunk, already a better player, has far more improvement in him, already a fully fledged international despite being much younger and when the time does come you'd at least get your money back or more likely get more than what you originally paid for him.

I get all that, ultimately every signing is a risk, there are plenty of EPL to EPL transfers for big money that have been disasterous also. The general point is though that £45-50m for someone like Dunk, who is inferior to the guy he's replacing wouldn't be a wise move.

The classic example of a better player from abroad for less money would be Diop who West Ham signed last summer for circa £20m. If you have faith in your scouting system and are succession planning properly then you don't have to resort to paying way over the odds to secure run of the mill EPL centre backs such as Dunk. Leicester always seem to be well run and progressive in terms of scouting and recruitment so there is no reason why signing someone from abroad should be considered such a greater risk, particularly as this approach has served the club very well in the past. Again using the West Ham example, they signed two superb players who vastly enhanced their squad in the exact positions Leicester are trying to strengthen for circa £50m combined in Diop and Anderson. If Leicester can be on the ball similarly with their transfer dealings this summer that may just be the difference in pulling ahead of the rest of the chasing pack and breaking the top 6. Conversely you could just spend pretty much the same amount of money as it cost to get Diop and Anderson on Dunk. For the fees being quoted and by the time Hull get their slice it wouldn't be far off a straight swap in terms of Dunk for Maguire when you look at the net profit on the respective deals and that for me would be a very poor piece of business.