Leicester City supporters in the Transfer Tavern are eagerly anticipating the 2018/19 Premier League season, what with their side seeking to improve upon a solid ninth place finish last time round.
The Foxes made a pretty poor start to the campaign which eventually resulted in Craig Shakespeare’s sacking, from which ex-Southampton boss Claude Puel took over in a bid to move them away from the relegation zone. And the Frenchman did just that by helping the side to a top half finish in the top-flight, although their disappointing form in 2018 somewhat increased the pressure on Puel given they won just five of their 18 league games from the turn of the year.
Nonetheless, there are many excited and expectant Leicester fans up and down the country, several of whom are likely to be interested by news that their side have completed a deal to bring Danny Ward from Liverpool.
The 25-year-old has seen Roma shot-stopper Alisson make the move to Anfield in recent times to push him even further down Jurgen Klopp’s pecking order, to the point that the Foxes have officially confirmed his arrival, thought to be for £12.5 million.
And having already brought Jonny Evans, Ricardo Pereira, and James Maddison to the King Power Stadium this summer, Puel is certainly going about the transfer window in a shrewd way, with Ward’s arrival likely to provide stern competition to current number one Kasper Schmeichel.
And with that deal done, Puel should seek to complete Leicester’s summer of business by luring these TWO stars to the 2016 league champions…
Evans’ arrival at the King Power Stadium earlier this summer will no doubt bolster their centre back ranks, but the speculation surrounding the future of Harry Maguire after an excellent World Cup with England could prompt Puel to add another one to that department.
And one man they have been linked with recently is Barcelona’s Yerry Mina, who managed just six senior appearances in the second half of last season for the Spanish giants following his move there back in January.
And after impressing at the World Cup with Colombia, netting three goals in three appearances to help them reach the last-16, the 23-year-old clearly has much pedigree and could well do a job in the Premier League, which is why Puel must seek to lure the defender to Leicester this summer.
Hatem Ben Arfa will be most well known to English football fans for his stints at Newcastle United and Hull City, yet it was under Puel at French side Nice in which the 31-year-old really produced the goods to suggest that a reunion at Leicester could get the best out of him once again.
The attacker scored a mightily impressive 18 goals and laid on seven assists for the Ligue 1 side under Puel back in the 2015/16 season, but simply hasn’t been able to produce the same level of consistency since moving to Paris Saint-German in the summer of 2016.
In fact, Ben Arfa is now without a club after leaving the Parc des Princes at the expiration of his contract earlier this summer, which should prompt Puel to seek a reunion with the France international at Leicester.
