Leicester City are set to embark on another Championship season following their relegation from the Premier League, with hopes they can make an immediate return to the top flight.
Although the Foxes are awaiting a pending points deduction, many experts are still tipping Leicester as a favourite for promotion.
For this to be a reality there is a need to recruit some players, adding to their sole summer signing: Asmir Begovic.
However, several high-profile players have left the Foxes, with Mads Hermansen’s move to West Ham the latest, following Conor Coady’s move to Wrexham and Wilfred Ndidi’s transfer to Besiktas.
Marti Cifuentes has confirmed who is likely to be the man stepping in to replace the man departing for West Ham.
Jakub Stolarczyk is set to be first choice
Marti Cifuentes has confirmed that Jakub Stolarczyk will be stepping up to take the place of Mads Hermansen after the Dane left for £18 million to join West Ham, as reported in Leicestershire Live.
Roughly £10m has been fetched in from the sales of Coady and Ndidi, while the wages were saved from those two, plus those who left at the end of their contract.
Despite that, there are still far too many players on the books for Marti Cifuentes, and EFL Analysis’ Chief Football Correspondent Graeme Bailey predicts that there will be little in the way of incomings.
This will see the youthful Stolarczyk step up to take the place of Hermansen, with Begovic providing support as a backup option.
Cifuentes said: “I’m very pleased with the quality of the goalkeepers we have at the club at the moment.
“We’ve got a good combination of young keepers hungry to develop. As well we bring in Asmir (Begovic), an experienced one, who can help them to get better. We bring his leadership and professional mindset to this set-up.
“Jakub did really well last season in the games he played in the Premier League. Obviously he’s a talented goalkeeper.”
Cifuentes is turning to youth this season
The new Leicester City manager will be looking to change the feeling around the squad this season, and if that cannot be done by transfers, it can be done by an injection of youth talent.
This appears to be the route Cifuentes will take, as he has stated that Louis Page is set to be a key midfield option this campaign, as reported by Leicestershire Live.
He said: “At the moment in terms of numbers and quality, when you see the squad we’ve got, for the 6, 8 and 10 positions, we’ve got more than six or seven players. It’s more than enough in my opinion.
Louis Page for Leicester City match against Peterborough in preseason
Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images
“The reality will tell us in the next days and in the next weeks if we want to sign another player there or not.
“What is true is that I want to give them an opportunity to show what they’re capable of. In that sense I’ve seen a lot of positives over the last days, in training, in the last game against Fiorentina, and players can play different roles.
“For me, Skippy can play as a number 6 or a number 8. Louis Page is a young one who can play as an 8 or as a 10. I think we’ve got a good mix, players that can play more than one position.”