Every time Tom Cannon scores, the noise around a January recall starts up again.
The Leicester City loanee netted his eighth Championship goal of the season for Stoke on Tuesday night, racing off the shoulder and slotting in. It gave the Potters a sixth-minute lead, but they went on to lose 2-1 to Luton, conceding a last-minute goal.
Cannon’s form this season has seen City fans call for him to be given another chance and to come back as early as next month. But it seems incredibly unlikely that the club will take that route.
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Right now, he probably wouldn’t even get on the bench. Jamie Vardy is the main man and is scoring regularly, while Patson Daka is looking sharper and more confident now he has a manager that has long believed in him.
Odsonne Edouard, the current third-choice striker, can’t currently make the substitutes list, even at the weekend, when Ricardo Pereira, Harry Winks, Abdul Fatawu and Facundo Buonanotte were unavailable for selection. Cannon would be set for a similar fate if the club were to recall, and so leaving him at Stoke, where he is playing regularly, is best for his development right now.
What might happen in January pursuit of striker
It would make even less sense to recall Cannon if City still want a new striker in January. There was a pursuit for one in the summer, with a bid rejected for Greece and Panathinaikos frontman Fotis Ioannidis, with the club then bringing in Edouard on loan on deadline day.
Since then, Ioannidis has struggled. After 23 goals in 44 games last term, he has just one in 19 this campaign. Still, he signed a new contract at Panathinaikos a couple of weeks ago, adding an extra year to his previous deal, meaning he’s now tied at the club until 2028.
City have been linked to Brighton’s Evan Ferguson, but they could only get him on loan if they were to send Buonanotte back, and that won’t happen. So if they want the Irishman, they will have to buy him outright, and while Ruud van Nistelrooy has said there are funds for deals next month, they perhaps don’t extend to the kind of fee Ferguson would cost.
If a new striker was signed, it would push Edouard even further down the pecking order. Oliver Glasner's damning verdict suggests Crystal Palace won’t recall him any time soon, but City might choose to send him back.
Clubs are only allowed two Premier League loans at any one time, and City may feel it’s a waste of one of their spots if they keep Edouard. Van Nistelrooy is currently assessing the squad ahead of January and it may be he has different ideas over what the club require.
Even if he doesn't want a new striker, there may be a Premier League player he feels could strengthen another area of the team. Edouard sticking around would be a barrier to a potential deal and so choosing whether to keep the Frenchman will be a big part of the new manager's evaluation.
City links point to growing trend
Over the past couple of weeks, City have been linked with two Japanese players plying their trade in their home country. There’s Kashiwa Reysol right-back Hiroki Sekine and Kawasaki Frontale centre-back Kota Takai.
In scouting Japan and taking a closer look at that market, City are jumping on a growing trend. Typically, Germany has been the destination for Japanese players in Europe, but not only are more coming to the UK, but they’re coming directly from Japan.
Five teams in the Premier League, eight teams in the Championship and Birmingham in League One now have Japanese players in their squads. Celtic also have a trio of Japan internationals.
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