Leicester City’s hopes of achieving Premier League survival already look done and dusted with two months of the season remaining.
Leicester find themselves in 19th position in the table following an abysmal run of 13 losses in their last 14 league games.
It would take a miracle even bigger than the 2014/15 great escape to see Ruud van Nistelrooy’s men successfully return a nine-point deficit, leaving supporters resigned to Championship football.
The prospect of another second-tier campaign isn’t that appealing but it does allow fans to watch some wins while Leicester will have money to spend in the transfer window.
Interestingly, one player they’re currently eyeing is set to leave his club on a free transfer and the statistics imply he would be a bargain.
Photo by Marcel Engelbrecht - firo sportphoto/Getty Images
Photo by Marcel Engelbrecht – firo sportphoto/Getty Images
Leicester target Bernardo is outperforming Europe’s best
Leicester are plotting a move for Bernardo, the VfL Bochum defender who sees his contract expire in July 2025.
The 29-year-old, formerly of Brighton, started the campaign sidelined through injury but now he’s become a key fixture for the Bundesliga side and attracting several clubs to his signature.
MORE LEICESTER STORIES
There is a huge reason for the Brazilian being wanted, and that is because he’s an astute defender, whose ball-winning attributes rank him high against defenders across Europe.
As highlighted by FBref, Bernardo has averaged 2.96 tackles per game across the past year and 4.74 aerial duels won, placing him in the top 1% of European defenders in those two stats.
Remarkably, the Bochum star is outperforming some of the greatest defenders on the planet, even Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk, who has averaged 0.97 tackles and 2.68 aerials won respectively.
Admittedly, Van Dijk typically would do less defending than Bernardo, but it’s still impressive that the Leicester target is producing such high numbers.
Bernardo would be a bargain
In the current squad, there is arguably a grey cloud hanging over the futures of every centre-back, with uncertainty surrounding Wout Faes, Jannik Vestergaard, Caleb Okoli and Conor Coady.
The Foxes need a huge clear out in the summer and some, if not, all of the above names could depart for pastures new, leaving Leicester potentially light on numbers.
With the prospect of Championship football looming large, capturing someone like Bernardo for nothing would set the standard and show they mean business.
For many years City have thrown money down the drain with scattergun recruitment but Bernardo is a proven centre-back who can also slot in as a left-back too.
Based on his defensive statistics and experience of playing at clubs such as RB Salzburg, Brighton and Leipzig, it feels a no-brainer to snap him up if possible.