Next Season - Thoughts

[David Hankey]

"Direction we'll go in", onwards and more importantly upwards!!

[FoyleFox]

1 hour ago, jammie82uk said:

Your confused? There is nearly a quarter of this season remaining and you want to talk about next season already, bet your the kind of person who plans their next holiday while on an Holiday, can’t we just enjoy/endure what’s left of this one first? 

Nothing wrong with a bit of sensible forward planning. Personally, in normal circumstances I like to have the next holiday booked before I go on holiday

[sdb]

I don't think our recruitment plans will differ much regardless of where we finish. Partly because of lost income, partly because of the likely changes we made last season when we capitulated, and partly because big name signings don't really seem to work for us anyway.

 

We need a quality striker and right winger. A young CB would be ideal too, and maybe a Choudhury upgrade in dream world 

[winteriscoming]

Be interesting to see who leaves. We always seem to lose 1 player from our starting XI - Chilwell, Maguire, Mahrez etc in recent seasons. 
Obviously I hope no one leaves but I can see 1 going. The question is who. 

[weller54]

4 hours ago, winteriscoming said:

Be interesting to see who leaves. We always seem to lose 1 player from our starting XI - Chilwell, Maguire, Mahrez etc in recent seasons. 
Obviously I hope no one leaves but I can see 1 going. The question is who. 

Perez and Under.

[Nicolo Barella]

9 hours ago, winteriscoming said:

Be interesting to see who leaves. We always seem to lose 1 player from our starting XI - Chilwell, Maguire, Mahrez etc in recent seasons. 
Obviously I hope no one leaves but I can see 1 going. The question is who. 

Nah, can't see anyone important going.

 

Barnes: new contract on the way, has improved every season under Rodgers, nobody will bid the required amount

 

Tielemans: new contract on the way, has made very positive noises about staying in Leicester, and is also a bit of a luxury player in that he's got a very specific role, and nobody will bid high enough

 

Ricardo: hasn't shown that he's fully recovered from his injury yet

 

Soyuncu: long contract, there are much cheaper centrebacks of similar quality available

 

Ndidi: long contract, still some doubts over his passing for a "top club", would require huge fee.

 

Maddison: anyone willing to pay up for him will buy Grealish instead.

[Nicolo Barella]

Regardless of where we finish next season, our squad will still have the same areas to target. Our squad for next season with no additions will probably look like this:

 

Strikers: Vardy Iheanacho

 

AMs: Maddison, Perez*

 

Wingers: Barnes, Albrighton

 

Midfielders: Ndidi, Tielemans, Praet, Mendy, Dewsbury-Hall

 

Fullbacks: Ricardo, Castagne, Justin [out until Christmas] Thomas

 

Centrebacks: Soyuncu, Evans, Fofana, Amartey

 

Goalies: Schmeichel, Ward

 

* I've also classified Perez as an AM because basically all his decent performances have been there or as a second striker, so we should be looking to not play him on the wings anymore. 

 

With Morgan, Fuchs, Under leaving, and Tavares + Iversen probably getting sent out on loan (if we even keep Tavares), as well as Choudhury probably leaving, our squad looks uneasily thin at 21.

 

The positions of priority are as follows, imo:

Urgent: Starting RW

Urgent: Another winger, preferably a young talent with some upside like Justin and Soyuncu were when they joined

Medium: Left back loan, we will be facing half of next season with three fit fullbacks, one being Thomas. We at least need an extra body in here, and if we don't want to block Thomas' progression as a player a permanent signing probably wouldn't be the way to go. A temporary fix like Under was this season.

Low: Striker, unless Iheanacho leaves it's pretty normal to just have two strikers in the squad, even the most stacked clubs in the world usually have two. I realise this is an unpopular opinion. If Iheanacho leaves, it becomes the second priority.

Low: Midfielder, unless the right opportunity presents itself (Bissouma or Anguissa getting relegated, for example) 5 is probably enough. We've gotten by this season, and now have rotation for Tielemans in Dewsbury-Hall.

Very Low: Centreback, Ndidi can play here in the worst case scenario, so can Justin when he's back. Morgan has hardly featured for us all season, 4 should be enough.

 

I can see us making the first 3 or 4 signings.

 

This would leave us with a squad of

Vardy, Iheanacho, Striker*

Maddison, Perez
Barnes, RW, Albrighton, Winger

Ndidi, Tielemans, Praet, Mendy, Dewsbury-Hall

Ricardo, Castagne, Justin, LB, Thomas

Soyuncu, Evans, Fofana, Amartey

Schmeichel, Ward

 

24/5 depending on the addition of another striker.

[Nicolo Barella]

Fantasy transfer window would be Antony, Balogun, Bissouma, Mbeumo/Sima/Somebody exciting doesn't matter, and some left back in on loan.

[mozartfox]

13 hours ago, winteriscoming said:

Be interesting to see who leaves. We always seem to lose 1 player from our starting XI - Chilwell, Maguire, Mahrez etc in recent seasons. 
Obviously I hope no one leaves but I can see 1 going. The question is who. 

If we make UCL, the pressure to sell is much less.  Despite the current Financial situation in football, there will be 3 Clubs in England flashing the cash no doubt.

[Raw Dykes]

6 hours ago, Nicolo Barella said:

Regardless of where we finish next season, our squad will still have the same areas to target. Our squad for next season with no additions will probably look like this:

 

Strikers: Vardy Iheanacho

 

AMs: Maddison, Perez*

 

Wingers: Barnes, Albrighton

 

Midfielders: Ndidi, Tielemans, Praet, Mendy, Dewsbury-Hall

 

Fullbacks: Ricardo, Castagne, Justin [out until Christmas] Thomas

 

Centrebacks: Soyuncu, Evans, Fofana, Amartey

 

Goalies: Schmeichel, Ward

 

* I've also classified Perez as an AM because basically all his decent performances have been there or as a second striker, so we should be looking to not play him on the wings anymore. 

 

With Morgan, Fuchs, Under leaving, and Tavares + Iversen probably getting sent out on loan (if we even keep Tavares), as well as Choudhury probably leaving, our squad looks uneasily thin at 21.

 

The positions of priority are as follows, imo:

Urgent: Starting RW

Urgent: Another winger, preferably a young talent with some upside like Justin and Soyuncu were when they joined

Medium: Left back loan, we will be facing half of next season with three fit fullbacks, one being Thomas. We at least need an extra body in here, and if we don't want to block Thomas' progression as a player a permanent signing probably wouldn't be the way to go. A temporary fix like Under was this season.

Low: Striker, unless Iheanacho leaves it's pretty normal to just have two strikers in the squad, even the most stacked clubs in the world usually have two. I realise this is an unpopular opinion. If Iheanacho leaves, it becomes the second priority.

Low: Midfielder, unless the right opportunity presents itself (Bissouma or Anguissa getting relegated, for example) 5 is probably enough. We've gotten by this season, and now have rotation for Tielemans in Dewsbury-Hall.

Very Low: Centreback, Ndidi can play here in the worst case scenario, so can Justin when he's back. Morgan has hardly featured for us all season, 4 should be enough.

 

I can see us making the first 3 or 4 signings.

 

This would leave us with a squad of

Vardy, Iheanacho, Striker*

Maddison, Perez
Barnes, RW, Albrighton, Winger

Ndidi, Tielemans, Praet, Mendy, Dewsbury-Hall

Ricardo, Castagne, Justin, LB, Thomas

Soyuncu, Evans, Fofana, Amartey

Schmeichel, Ward

 

24/5 depending on the addition of another striker.

I think Sowah returning from OHL could be the squad winger.

 

Considering Vardy's age, I think a striker is quite a high priority now.

 

I hope we're after a striker, a left-footed RW and maybe another midfielder with some creativity, although KDH could be the answer there.

 

I'm not sure if I'd bother with a LB. I think 3 full-backs should be okay until JJ returns, and the experience will be good for Thomas. I admit it is a bit of a gamble, though. A 6-month loan wouldn't be a terrible idea.

 

I agree that CB is a very low priority. Maybe that lad from Dundee would be ideal. Neilson, I think. A cheap youngster with some experience who wouldn't expect many minutes.

[Leeds Fox]

On 08/03/2021 at 17:04, jammie82uk said:

Your confused? There is nearly a quarter of this season remaining and you want to talk about next season already, bet your the kind of person who plans their next holiday while on an Holiday, can’t we just enjoy/endure what’s left of this one first? 

Bet on what you want but that definitely isn’t me. I was looking at our squad and wondered where we felt we could strengthen for next season. Something the club are likely already doing (taking into account where we might be).

 

I’d ‘bet’ that most people on here have looked towards next season, will we be in the Champions League, Europa etc. Who we might sign to solve our RW problem.

 

I wasn’t trying to stop anyone enjoying the rest of the season, I asked about how our squad might change in the summer. Hardly a groundbreaking thread, just wondered what people thought. 

[TJB-fox]

On 08/03/2021 at 13:24, Big Dave said:

Let’s get this season over with first.

The board certainly won’t be thinking like that though..

[Xen]

Regardless of where we finish this season, we need a few shrewd buys to ensure we can carry on in a similar fashion next season. Whether or not we're in the CL doesn't really change what we need as such, it just changes how easy it is to acquire those players and convince them to come here (with at least one season of CL money guaranteed that we can take loans out against).

 

We've got a solid squad as it is already, just unfortunately been ravaged by injuries, and a couple acquisitions could help us to rotate a bit better and hopefully mitigate the same injury situation happening again.

 

Cut out some of the players who are 'taking up space' - for want of a better term - such as Choudhury, Fuchs, Ghezzal, Ünder and maybe Perez. Bring a couple youth players into the fold (definitely KDH, possibly Tavares, Sowah, involve Thomas more and look at the likes of VDC as squad options), pick up a good-quality free signing if possible (Thauvin or Otavio, ideally), then look at one or two reasonably-priced options such as Edouard, Tarkowski. With that I think we'd be in a pretty strong position going into the new season, with potential to go for one more luxury signing (someone like Toney, perhaps, or an option from abroad (Leuven?)) and see how that turns out.

 

Since Rodgers arrived we've done well to diversify away from having Vardy as our talismanic player and start spreading our goals across the team, so minor upgrades here and there (with another solid central option alongside Iheanacho) should enable us to maintain our current trajectory and stay competitive on several fronts next season. At this point the main goal next year is surely to consolidate what we've already achieved, and ensure that a season like this becomes the norm, rather than a one-off.

[Stadt]

Fuchs, Morgan, Jakupovic's contracts are expiring which should save us anywhere between £50k - £100k (more likely on the lower end of the scale)

They've played 27.9%, 0.7% and 0% of available league minutes respectively so we'll free up a lot of our wage budget without losing players that have contributed too much.

 

Under's loan will expire too.

 

 

We have loads of players returning from loan, off the top of my head:

 

Iversen

 

Benkovic

Knight

Johnson

 

James

Wright

KDH

Sowah

Ghezzal

 

Hirst

Eppiah

Muskwe

 

The players in bold could potentially be involved in first team football next season, especially as you'd expect us to go further in the league cup this year. The others, primarily James & Ghezzal, could fetch a not insignificant fee and free up the wage budget a bit more.

 

 

Choudhury will probably be on his way out and we could get up to £10m depending on who's interested. Personally, I'd shift Mendy too and use the combined fees to bring in a more capable DM than both of them (e.g Sangare, Cheick Doucoure, Anguissa price dependent)

 

So the absolute priority is a left footed RW, Romain Faivre looks he could be it. There's no stand out right wingers based on this season's stats in the top European leagues but he seems a bit of a rough diamond.

(filtered by goal p90, minimum 15 apps).

Berardi is slow and most likely won't leave Italy, Bailey is a possibility but seems slightly unlikely. Thauvin is a maybe as well. Not shown is Otavio who could well be an option but will be highly sought after (nor is he prolific).

 

 

Faivre's output at Brest, creative stats come up well.

vs. Att Mid / Wingers

Statistic	Per 90	Percentile
Non-Penalty Goals	0.16	28
npxG	0.17	39
Shots Total	1.81	38
Assists	0.12	31
xA	0.21	68
npxG+xA	0.38	53
Shot-Creating Actions	5.11	97
Passes Attempted	45.68	80
Pass Completion %	79.2%	76
Progressive Passes	3.71	69
Progressive Carries	7.66	75
Dribbles Completed	2.88	89
Touches (Att Pen)	2.80	22
Progressive Passes Rec	5.56	24
Pressures	14.95	51
Tackles	1.73	80
Interceptions	1.07	91
Blocks	1.40	68
Clearances	0.66	67
Aerials won	0.62	49

 

 

 

 

Up front is another priority, Edouard seems to fit the profile well which I'd be happy with. Toney would be more expensive but would be an excellent signing too.

 

After that I don't think we have any essential transfers leaving us quite a comfortable position to sign up any opportunistic propositions. With our analytics and recruitment being right more often than not this could pay off quite nicely.

 

With CL money (or worst case EL money), gate income returning and all the outgoings we should be quite rosey financially. 

 

 

 

[RumbleFox]

Some weird responses to this thread. X 

[ARM1968]

On 08/03/2021 at 18:23, winteriscoming said:

Be interesting to see who leaves. We always seem to lose 1 player from our starting XI - Chilwell, Maguire, Mahrez etc in recent seasons. 
Obviously I hope no one leaves but I can see 1 going. The question is who. 

You’re forgetting Drinkwater there. 

[Strokes]

5 hours ago, Stadt said:

Fuchs, Morgan, Jakupovic's contracts are expiring which should save us anywhere between £50k - £100k (more likely on the lower end of the scale)

They've played 27.9%, 0.7% and 0% of available league minutes respectively so we'll free up a lot of our wage budget without losing players that have contributed too much.

 

Under's loan will expire too.

 

 

We have loads of players returning from loan, off the top of my head:

 

Iversen

 

Benkovic

Knight

Johnson

 

James

Wright

KDH

Sowah

Ghezzal

 

Hirst

Eppiah

Muskwe

 

The players in bold could potentially be involved in first team football next season, especially as you'd expect us to go further in the league cup this year. The others, primarily James & Ghezzal, could fetch a not insignificant fee and free up the wage budget a bit more.

 

 

Choudhury will probably be on his way out and we could get up to £10m depending on who's interested. Personally, I'd shift Mendy too and use the combined fees to bring in a more capable DM than both of them (e.g Sangare, Cheick Doucoure, Anguissa price dependent)

 

So the absolute priority is a left footed RW, Romain Faivre looks he could be it. There's no stand out right wingers based on this season's stats in the top European leagues but he seems a bit of a rough diamond.

(filtered by goal p90, minimum 15 apps).

Berardi is slow and most likely won't leave Italy, Bailey is a possibility but seems slightly unlikely. Thauvin is a maybe as well. Not shown is Otavio who could well be an option but will be highly sought after (nor is he prolific).

 

 

Faivre's output at Brest, creative stats come up well.

vs. Att Mid / Wingers

Statistic	Per 90	Percentile
Non-Penalty Goals	0.16	28
npxG	0.17	39
Shots Total	1.81	38
Assists	0.12	31
xA	0.21	68
npxG+xA	0.38	53
Shot-Creating Actions	5.11	97
Passes Attempted	45.68	80
Pass Completion %	79.2%	76
Progressive Passes	3.71	69
Progressive Carries	7.66	75
Dribbles Completed	2.88	89
Touches (Att Pen)	2.80	22
Progressive Passes Rec	5.56	24
Pressures	14.95	51
Tackles	1.73	80
Interceptions	1.07	91
Blocks	1.40	68
Clearances	0.66	67
Aerials won	0.62	49

 

 

 

 

Up front is another priority, Edouard seems to fit the profile well which I'd be happy with. Toney would be more expensive but would be an excellent signing too.

 

After that I don't think we have any essential transfers leaving us quite a comfortable position to sign up any opportunistic propositions. With our analytics and recruitment being right more often than not this could pay off quite nicely.

 

With CL money (or worst case EL money), gate income returning and all the outgoings we should be quite rosey financially. 

 

 

 

Great analysis, I’m a big fan of Thauvin and I’d love us to go for him but Faivre’s stats are good and he is much younger which fits our type a little more.

What are the touted price for him, any idea?

[dayday]

If we did sign Edouard, how do we keep 3 strikers happy?

 

Vardy is sure to be no1, I dont think Edouard would want to come and play second fiddle

 

We could play Edouard and Vardy, but then where does Maddison fit in?

 

Rodgers will have one big headache 

[OhYesNdidi]

1 minute ago, dayday said:

If we did sign Edouard, how do we keep 3 strikers happy?

 

Vardy is sure to be no1, I dont think Edouard would want to come and play second fiddle

 

We could play Edouard and Vardy, but then where does Maddison fit in?

 

Rodgers will have one big headache 

Thinks Edouard would start plenty of games, could possibly see him becoming the main man towards the end of the season. Iheanacho doesn’t really too bothered about barely playing so doubt he’d kick up a fuss, he seems comfortable with the role he has.

[Stadt]

2 hours ago, Strokes said:

Great analysis, I’m a big fan of Thauvin and I’d love us to go for him but Faivre’s stats are good and he is much younger which fits our type a little more.

What are the touted price for him, any idea?

The financial situation of French clubs is dire, reportedly. I’d guess around £20m - their record sale was Diallo to Southampton last summer for €15m so it could be a bit less.

I hope we get our business done early, Bayern (much greater leverage obviously) always seem to get their main dealings done before the window even opens. Sometimes you need to keep your options open but being decisive early on pays off - like the 18/19 summer window.

[Corky]

Matty James is out of contract at the end of the season, isn't he?

[OhYesNdidi]

4 minutes ago, Corky said:

Matty James is out of contract at the end of the season, isn't he?

Yes 

[Strokes]

10 minutes ago, Stadt said:

The financial situation of French clubs is dire, reportedly. I’d guess around £20m - their record sale was Diallo to Southampton last summer for €15m so it could be a bit less.

I hope we get our business done early, Bayern (much greater leverage obviously) always seem to get their main dealings done before the window even opens. Sometimes you need to keep your options open but being decisive early on pays off - like the 18/19 summer window.

15/16 too was a good window for early signings.

We got Fuchs, Huth and Okazaki sorted very early. Kante and the silly Ranieri signings were a bit later but some very key early signings all the same.