All eyes were on Leicester City as they embarked on a new season after a fairy tale title-winning campaign. After the exuberant and thoroughly deserved celebrations, Ranieri got down to work with the board. And they have spent. And spent big. With Champions League and a strong will to establish themselves in the top half it was a necessity and the Foxes will look to give another good account of themselves.
INS
Nampalys Mendy – Nice, £13m
Ron-Robert Zieler – Hannover 96, £2.6m
Luis Hernandez – Sporting Gijon, free
Raul Uche Rubio – Rayo Vallecano, undisclosed
Ahmed Musa – CSKA Moscow, undisclosed
Bartosz Kapustka – Cracovia, £7.5m
Islam Slimani – Sporting Lisbon, £29.7m
OUTS
Andrej Kramaric – Hoffenheim, £7.6m
Joe Dodoo – Rangers, £250,000
Jonny Maddison – Yeovil, free
Paul Konchesky – Gillingham, free
Mark Schwarzer – released
Jacob Blyth – Motherwell, free
Ryan Watson – Barnet, free
Dean Hammond – Sheffield United, free
Jonny Maddison – released
Harry Panayiotou – released
N’Golo Kante – Chelsea, £32m
Callum Elder – Brentford, loan
Liam Moore – Reading, £1.5m
Michael Cain – Blackpool, loan
Hamza Choudhur – Burton, loan
Ritchie de Laet – Aston Villa, undisclosed
Tom Lawrence – Ipswich, loan
Gokhan Inler – Besiktas, undisclosed
SOURCE: Sky Sports
WHAT RANIERI GOT RIGHT
Keeping their new superstars would have been the first and foremost aim of the club and they were partially successful in doing so. Leicester have loaded up on attacking options and it seems they are looking to carry on their fearless brand of football from last season. And they would have realised the chances of teams sitting back this time around against them would increase, thus need to break the club transfer record thrice in a single transfer window. Musa and Slimani will look to support Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez up top. While Nampalys Mendy will be looking to settle quickly in the new surroundings and restore the solidity in midfield. Hernandez is an important acquisition and will add much needed depth in defence. While Leicester will hope they can emulate the unearthing of Riyad Mahrez with the singing of Bartosz Kapustka.
WHAT HE MIGHT NOT HAVE
At the moment the Foxes look a tad top heavy and there is suspicion they might have paid over the odds for both of them. Their defence looks shorn of quality depth and any injury to one of the senior players might put them on the back-foot with the games expected to come thick and fast. The loss of Kante and the failure to replace him with a bigger name and a proven player still looks like a mistake. We hope we are proved wrong by the end of the season.
