The ones that got away

[Sly]

I was looking at some of the players we’d been linked to over the past view years last night. Alarmingly, some of these big money transfers have been flops!! So we’ve potentially dodged a bullet.

 

Ben Gibson - Defender

Championship, playing 3,300 minutes this season. Hasnt pulled up any trees and would have been a waste of money at £30m. Stats don’t stack up against Maguire that well. Although he does make s lot of clearances.

 

Johnny Evans - Defender

Premiership, playing 2159 minutes this season. Involved in a relegation battle and hasn’t looked all that spectacular. Involved in an incident with a taxi hasn’t helped his cause. Fairly solid in the air, not that great on the ground and has lost a fair amount of tackles. Would have been a waste of money.

 

Alfie Mawson - Defender

Premiership, 2,700 minutes played this season. Improved under the new boss at Swansea. Great defensive stars with good aerial winning %, clearances, blocks, etc, Does have an error in him. Missed opportunity in hindsight. Worth perusing again I’d say.

 

Chris Smalling - Defender

Premiership, 1906 minutes played this season. In and out the United team. Defensive stats on par if not better than Maguire, though lacks the offensive presence. Worth reviewing again I’d say, would have improved us on paper this season.

 

George Hirst - Forward

Academy prospect really at Sheffield Wednesday. Highly thought of after scoring 40+ goals the U23s and the felling is he’ll go on to be s good player. We’ve had a few of these ourselves in Petrescu, Key, Dodds, O’Grady, Heskey ..... 1 in 5 or 10 make the grade, so complete shot in the dark. I think we offered £2m, they wanted more, a lot more, which was a bit of gamble. St this stage, not a miss.

 

Andros Townsend - Attacker / Midfield

7 assists and 2 goals in 29 games. One wonder game in 20, largely absent for the others. Swap for Gray who is a similar player but younger, no brainer, we got the better deal by keeping DG. 

 

Ryad Boudoubouz - Midfielder / Attacker 

2 goals and 3 assists in 20 odd games for Betis. Started the season injured but hasn’t had the impact many expected. Never a replacement for Mahrez. Guess that’s why he only went for £6m after all the hype. A bit Knockaert-esk from the few games I’ve seen.

 

Gylfi Sigurdsson - Midfield

Crazy transfer fee, even the Everton fans will tell you they overpaid. Can’t doubt he has ability but for £40m pre Neymar and Coutinho was s bonkers transfer fee. On top of that, he hasn’t been great in an Everton team that haven’t set the world alight. Have looked better since January but he’s injured now. He’d have improved the squad, but at that price, we could have gone shopping elsewhere. It’s a dodged bullet from me. He’d have got pelters on here if he’d showd the form he has for Everton at times.

 

Mohammed Elneny - Midfield

Rejected the chance to join us. We’ve not lost out, as he isn’t any better than what we have. Not rated by the Arsenal fans who wonder why they have him. Nothing missed by not acquiring him.

 

Kara Mbodji - Defender

Difficult to tell, injured in December playing in the Champions league against Bayern, wasn’t pulling up trees before that, missed s few games after getting dropped. We’d need a closer look. 

 

Gaston Ramirez - Midfielder

By all accounts has done quite well at Sampdoria since he’s been with them, albeit in unspectacular fashion. Would have given us nothing but a squad number and came with a questionable reputation. Nothing lossed by missing out on him.

 

Robbie Brady - Midfielder

He he got injured playing against us and is out long term. He was playing well for Burnley before that and a bit like Albrighton for us, offered workrate and tenacity. Would he have improved the first 11, No. Would he have improved the squad, yes, albeit at the expense of someone like DG. No loss here really.

 

Francesco Arcebi - Defender

Has played frequently this season but Sassullo have struggled and his stock has dropped. Defensive stats looked solid, especially aerially. At his age, was maybe a Huth replacement but lacked the language and Premier League experience. Most likely not a bad thing we didn’t sign him. Although by the sound of it, we we were not as close as many thought in terms of signing him. 

 

Luka Milovokik - Midfielder

8 goals in 29 Premier League games. Has certainly been a shinning light in a poor season for Crystal Palace. They rate him highly and at just over £10m, seems a solid investment. Could have done with him early part of the season. Not sure he’s better than what we have in Silva, N’didi and Iborra, however would push for a stake in the team. Bit of a miss for me.

 

Mamadou Sakho - Defender

His loan spell at Crystal Palace arguably had the same effect on them, that the signing of Huth did for us in the “Great Escspe” season. Looked a great bit of business for £25m when he signed permanently. Started to look a decent acquisition then got injured in September and has missed s good chunk of the season. Has just started to return and looks to bring them stability. We’ve missed out in my opinion.

 

Naby Keita - Midfielder

Pure and simple, complete miss. Should have persuaded him harder when we had UCL football.

 

Stephen N’Zonzi - Midfielder

Not sure he ever fancied us, however would have improved us. Again, without UCL football, he won’t come here. Opportunity missed.

 

Charlie Taylor - Defender

We were linked with him whilst he was at Leeds. He’s subsequently signed for Burnley and hasn’t featured a great deal. I believe this was an option, should we have lost Chilwell to Liverpool. He wouldn’t have improved us, so for me we’ve not missed out here.

 

Marcel Tisserand - Defender

We were linked when Claudio first joined and he can play anywhere across the back line. Now at Wolfsburg, they seem to rate him quite highly. I’ve not seen much of him so hard to comment really. Wolfsburg we’re doing okay early season. He’s injured now and they appear, on the face of it, to have missed him.  

 

Michael Keane - Defender

See write up on Gylfi Siggurdson and copy paste here. Looked great for Burnley, hasn’t been that impressive for Everton. Huge price! Would have improved us but not at that chunk of money. 

 

Verdan Corulka - Defender

He he must be getting on to be 40 years old now. Solid defender but would have added to an aging back line. Not a loss.

 

Luan Viera - Attacker

Came from nowhere and outshone all of Brazil’s big names at the Olympics but has since fallen back off many people’s radars. Now in his mid 20’s he appears a big of an enigma, as he doesn’t score loads of goals. Incredibly skilful but has the Shinji effect and just makes the team tick. He’d be a massive gamble at the money Gremio would want, hence why he’s still playing in Brazil and not Europe. No idea what he’d add to us, as in all honesty, he could be an expensive, very expensive flop.

 

Gabriel Barbosa - Attacker

He supposedly choose Inter over Leicester when leaving Santos and it didn’t work out. They didn’t rate him and packed him off to Benfica, who also didn’t rate him, so he’s now back at Santos on loan. For £25m, he’d have been a waste of money. We’ve dodged one here.

 

Riggar Sigurdsson - Defender

We we’re linked after the Thunder Clap and it’s Iceland Vikings knocked England out of the Euros. He was unspectacular and would have been a back up at best. Signed for Fulham following, so guessing this was agent talk. Then joined F.C. Rostov on a free in January this year, Nothing lossed here. 

 

Eduardo Sasha - Attacker

Another Brazilian who’s still not made it to Europe, despite being in his mid 20s. We over £7m, Internactional wanted more. His stats don’t paint a great picture, not she he’d have been worth it. Again, if you’re good enough, you leave Brazil when you’re 21. Could have been worse. Could have made him the worlds most expensive player, ala Denillson. 

 

Troy Deeney - Attacker

As a forum, we seem to cover “Deeney to Leicester” every transfer window. I think they wanted £30m+, we offered £30m!! Just read that back to yourself. They turned down that amount of money. Worse option than we have, although he think he’d have been a good foil for Vardy pre raised expectations when he won the league.

 

Ark Millik - Attacker

He didn’t fancy coming to Leicester and joined Napoli for £30m from Ajax. Didn’t start that well with 1 goal in 4, before he was long term injured. Has recently returned and the feeling is they’ve operpaid significantly for him. I’m glad we didnt get him. We’ve already got some expensive subs. 

 

Jeison Murillo - Defender

Inter wanted £22m for him, we bulked and looked elsewhere. Signing free transfers from Spain for our Champions League campaign. He’s now on a two season loan at Valencia and the game I saw he didn’t stand out. Difficult to state what else he’d gave added to us. 

 

Ousmane Dembele - Attacker

He revealed he turned Claudio down in favour of joining Dortmund, then has subsequently moved to that small team in Spain called Barcelona to play with Messi and Suarez. Big missed opportunity when he left Rennes. Major miss.

 

Gianluca Lapadula - Attacker

He’s had more clubs that you can shake a stick at. We were linked whilst he was at Milan but he’s since joined Genoa. Doesn’t look great and has an awful goals return. Again, we’ve dodged one.

 

Mitchell Diyks - Defender

Attacking full back that we were linked to, having come through the youth ranks at Ajax. Had a loan spell at Norwich last season and was highly thought of, however they were not able to get him permanently due to financial restraints. Not featured much this season for Ajax and leaving on a free transfer. Stood out in the Championship, hasn’t featured heavily in the  Eridivesse. Not much point in re-looking I wouldn’t have thought.

 

Tonny Vilhenna - Midfield

Tonny has had a steady season in the Netherlands. 9 goals in 25+ games. Needs to leave to test himself in a bigger league as he has obvious talent. We were linked on a free transfer so nothing to lose.

 

Loic Remy - Forward

We looked at him as a Vardy backup in the January transfer window, of the tithe winning season. He’d have been backup and outside of his spell in England with Newcastle, never really looked up for it. 

 

Dwight Gayle - Forward

Linked heavily at one point, however always seems more of a Championship bully boy who can’t make the step up to the Premier a League. A David Nugent Mark II. We’ve moved on. We dodged one! 

 

Eder - Forward

Sampdoria wanted a fair chunk of change for him before he joined Inter in the 16/17 season. He’s over 30 years old and hasn’t exactly been free scoring. No sleep lost on missing this one!

 

Karol Linetty - Midfield

Ourselves and Man City we’re linked in the 15/16 season on a free transfer, prior to him joining Sampdoria. Looks a steady player and for a free transfer, we appear to have missed s trick with this one. 

 

Dante - Defender

Old, what was Claudio thinking, glad we missed out.

 

Florent Malouda - Attacker

Old but experienced. I can see why Claudio fancied him but wouldn’t have been a good fit. Nothing lost with this one.

 

David McGoldrick - Attacker

Apparently terms were agreed, we were that close to annoucing the signing, then something happen (luckily) and it fell through.

 

P.S - I know stats aren’t a true accurate reflection. They give you a feel though. Sure I’ll have missed some! 

[1972 Fox]

Bored during the international break?

 

What about Preki? 

[VLC86]

Shud av singed em all!

[NorthfieldsFox]

Don’t remember us bidding on 90% of those 

 

 

Edited 22 March 2018 by NorthfieldsFox

[Izzy]

[gw_leics772]

Add in players we did buy and how they turned out and our scouting doesn't look the best.

[Koke]

Whatever happened to this Polish fella we were once rumoured to be linked with? Haven't heard much of him since then.

 

 

[fazzyfox]

A lot of good analysis there, the over riding point is right, it's very easy to bemoan not signing a right back, number ten, replacement for Morgan etc but when you flip that and say "Which players that we could have attracted and afforded have gone elsewhere and performed as we would have required them to" it shows that there aren't too many.

Once the tabloid razamataz of building up every player who owns a pair of boots or had a good cup game against a Premier League team cools down the harsh reality is that there aren't that many. Some of the ones who are blatantly good enough choose top six clubs, I'd like to think our contending for best of the rest puts us in a very marginal catchment where "decent premier league player" is not quite enough but at the same time we face competition from the top six for the outstanding players. Then there's the angle that we need a certain type of player and character to fit our work ethic and style (albeit an evolving one at the moment).

 

Maguire was a top top signing, identified alomgside Keane and Gibson, it is looking like we got the best one. Diabate could well offer us more than Townsend would have and Ndidi was a great signing.

 

Of course we do have our own list of wasteful signings who don't figure for us, out on loan, our strike rate has not been overly impressive, there is work to do in finding a second younger CB and if Chelsea decide to illegally approach Mahrez, Maguire and Ndidi there will be a lot of work required in the summer but for now like the "Grass isn't always greener" saying I'm not overly mourning the ones that got away.

Edited 22 March 2018 by fazzyfox

[RutlanderFox]

We were also linked with Leon Bailey as well who appears to have gone down as a miss

[Guest Col city fan]

I like threads like this. Ones that have shown some effort and intellect.

Interesting read mate.

[sylofox]

1 hour ago, NorthfieldsFox said:

Don’t remember us bidding on 90% of those 

 

 

Because we haven't tenuous links at Best or someone's wish list.

[RonnieTodger]

I think it's absolutely mental that we didn't sign Sigurdsson after we won the league. There's no way he would've turned us down in the CL and even so, it was before Everton thought they were mint with their newfound millions

[RutlanderFox]

Nicky Maynard?

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

Remember some ex scout saying we were very very near to signing Klose, think it might've been our first season back up

[WestLothianFox]

What ever happened to Rod Fanni? I dont want to google his name to find out or the misses may think I am searching for something else

[HybridFox]

David Beckham? Oh Sven...

[Happy Fox]

8 minutes ago, WestLothianFox said:

What ever happened to Rod Fanni? I dont want to google his name to find out or the misses may think I am searching for something else

 

Delete your history 

[HighPeakFox]

1 hour ago, Miquel The Work Geordie said:

Remember some ex scout saying we were very very near to signing Klose, think it might've been our first season back up

Were we close? 

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

17 minutes ago, WestLothianFox said:

What ever happened to Rod Fanni? I dont want to google his name to find out or the misses may think I am searching for something else

 

Don't act as if you've never heard of the incognito tabs

 

 

[sylofox]

1 hour ago, Miquel The Work Geordie said:

Remember some ex scout saying we were very very near to signing Klose, think it might've been our first season back up

You miss heard him he said

 

"We are close to signing someone"

[VLC86]

6 minutes ago, sylofox said:

You miss heard him he said

 

"We are close to signing someone"

Diego? Would have been a class signing.

[Dan]

3 hours ago, RutlanderFox said:

We were also linked with Leon Bailey as well who appears to have gone down as a miss

Were we ever actually linked with him or was that just people suggesting it because we signed Ndidi from the club he was at at the time?

[st albans fox]

1 hour ago, WestLothianFox said:

What ever happened to Rod Fanni? I dont want to google his name to find out or the misses may think I am searching for something else

Definitely missed out on so many levels by not trying harder ........

[MrsJohnMurphy]

Bongo Christ?

[StriderHiryu]

Very good thread!