"A little bit harsh" - Leicester City transfer claim issued on Stephy Mavididi as European trio plot swoops | OneFootball

FLW’s Leicester City fan pundit has reflected on emerging interest from Europe for Stephy Mavididi.

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk‘ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Leicester City will be putting early plans in place for the summer transfer window ahead of their return to the Championship.

The Foxes were relegated from the Premier League in their first season back and will be aiming to make an instant return to the big time.

However, uncertainty clouds the football club at the moment, with the Leicester faithful unsure who will be managing the team when the first ball of the new campaign is kicked, while the club is set to face a 12-point deduction at the beginning of the new campaign for breaching PSR rules.

Inevitable cuts will also be naturally made following relegation, with a number of high earners expected to depart the club so that a flurry of additions can take place.

One player who could be making an exit from the King Power Stadium this summer is tricky wide player Stephy Mavididi, who had a disappointing top-flight term after lighting up the Championship and contributing significantly to their promotion in the previous term.

Clubs from across Europe are reportedly interested in securing the services of the 27-year-old, including Atalanta, Bologna and Villarreal.

With this in mind, FLW’s Leicester City fan pundit has weighed in with his thoughts about how the club should handle this emerging speculation.

Leicester City advised to part ways with Stephy Mavididi

Speaking to Football League World, Leicester City fan pundit Louchlainn Martin believes there are still some weak points to Stephy Mavididi’s game, and would welcome a sale if it helped boost their transfer window activity.

Martin said: “Mavididi has been linked to a few clubs across Europe and, to be fair, when we were relegated, he wasn’t a player we thought about losing. We were more concerned about Mads Hermansen and Bilal El Khannouss.

"Mavididi is a player probably in the bracket of too good for the Championship but not good enough for the Premier League. That may be a little bit harsh.

"He was, when he did play, one of our better players last season in the Premier League, and he was underplayed you could argue, he didn’t have as many appearances as he probably should have.

“There are still big flaws to his game, though, in my opinion, his fitness and tracking back are two areas. His confidence dropped quite quickly, which is a problem, more of a mental side to his game, but technically he’s incredible, he’s quick and would be a good addition to teams across Europe, I’m pretty sure of that.

“I think the asking price should be somewhere in the region of £15 million. Some people may say that’s too much, but if we don’t need to sell, because we’re selling the other high-value players, we can obviously demand a bigger fee, so £15 million around that range for me would be an appropriate fee to accept for Mavididi, and then you can reinvest that into the squad.”

Stephy Mavididi could still be a major Leicester City player in the Championship again

It’s certainly a difficult situation at Leicester right now, with no clarity provided on how the club will shape up ahead of the new Championship season.

It’s not an attractive position for the players to be in either, with some potentially considering walking away given the immediate struggles of needing to claw back a 12-point deficit at the beginning of the campaign and not knowing whether they will suit a new manager’s system, should Ruud van Nistelrooy depart.

Mavididi is the type of player Leicester need in order to dig themselves out of rather a grave hole, with the winger an immense threat going forward with his flair, pace and direct running. Despite being a frustrating figure at times, he showcased in his last Championship term how much of a vital asset he can be with his regular attacking contributions.

At this level, it would definitely be a blow for Leicester to lose a player of such talent, and they should do all they can to keep him at the club so they can have enough ammunition at the top end of the pitch to compete towards the upper ends of the table.

If he ends up leaving, Leicester will have a massive task of sourcing an adequate replacement, and that will be very difficult given Mavididi magnificently reached double figures for goals in his last second tier stint from a wide position.