New Leicester City transfer update could be good news for Preston North End and Blackburn Rovers: View | OneFootball

In the end, the 2023/24 campaign went just about as well as Leicester City would have hoped for it to.

Following their relegation from the Premier League at the end of last season, the Foxes have quickly secured an immediate promotion back to the top-flight of English football.

They are set to make that return as Championship title winners, following what has been a largely dominant campaign in the second-tier.

Given not many had tipped them for relegation when they went down, Leicester will surely be determined to prove that what happened in their last season in the Premier League, was a one-off.

Now it seems as though the Foxes are indeed taking steps in the early stages of the transfer window to ensure that proves to be the case.

Leicester City eyeing Akhmat Grozny striker

According to a report from Football Insider, the Championship title winners are eyeing a move to sign Mohamed Konate this summer.

Konate is set to be out of contract with Russian club Akhmat Grozny at the end of this season, and it expected to leave at that point in order to explore his options elsewhere.

The 26-year-old is apparently attracting attention from Leicester, as well as French top-flight duo Brest and Lyon, after scoring 13 goals in all competitions this season.

Given the extra firepower this could add to the Foxes' attack without them having to spend any money, this could be a useful addition for the club.

There is also an argument, that it could play into the hands of the transfer plans of two clubs currently still in the Championship, in the form of Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End.

Mohamed Konate deal could open the door for Tom Cannon move

While Leicester are seemingly currently eyeing up a potential new striker signing, one attacker currently on the books at The King Power Stadium is attracting attention from elsewhere.

Last summer, the Foxes signed Tom Cannon from Everton on a five-year contract, in a deal reported to be worth around £7.5million.

That came after the striker had enjoyed an impressive spell on loan in the Championship with Preston, in the second half of the 2022/23 campaign.

However, after missing the early part of this season for Leicester due to injury, Cannon continued to find game time hard to come by in Enzo Maresca's side once he had returned to fitness.

It has since been reported by journalist Alan Nixon that Preston are now keen to re-sign the striker on loan this summer, with Blackburn also interested in a similar deal.

The fact therefore, that Leicester are seemingly eyeing a new striker of their own with their pursuit of Konate, does seem to bode well for those two Championship clubs.

Given Cannon had not been a regular for the Foxes in the second-tier, it is hard to imagine that Maresca would now want to rely on him too much in the top-flight.

If they do get Konate, that is not something they will need to do, given they will have an alternative option to turn to.

Should that prove to be the case, then the prospect of a lack of game time at The King Power for Cannon in the coming campaign, may ensure Leicester are willing to loan him out for the season.

That way, they would be able to ensure he can get the game time he needs to develop his game, and become an important player for them in the future.

With Blackburn and Preston both interested, there is the option for them to do that as well, and given both of those clubs need a centre forward having struggled for goals from that position this season.

As a result, the fact a proven player at this level who they are interested in with Cannon, could soon be in a position where a loan move may be best for him, could be a big boost for those sides.

So with that in mind, there is a good chance that both Blackburn and Preston will be rooting for Leicester to come out on top in the race to sign Konate in the coming weeks, for their own benefit.