Leicester should try to keep these star players over summer | OneFootball

Ruud van Nistelrooy may still lead the King Power side into the EFL Championship, where the Foxes will hope for a proper rebuild. Leicester City need new players, need to promote others, crash their wage bill into the ground, and critically, they must retain key players to have any hope of forming a strong side.

Be those youngsters out on loan such as Will Alves, or experienced long-standing players who can lead and galvanise a new Leicester team, the Dutchman will definitely have his work cut out for him in the summer transfer window. Of course, many of us would hope the club would at least take Jon Rudkin out of the equation, but for now it looks like supporters will be hoping for much longer.

Who Leicester City should try to keep

The East Midlands club do still have strong talent in the side. They have been serially mismanaged in at least two seasons, arguably also in the Championship winning campaign, which has led to a sharp decline in form from a team that was only a few years ago challenging for European football. That being said, those bright times under Brendan Rodgers are far away now.

'Rudkin et al' have paid experienced players too highly, on long contracts, sticking these players to the Foxes despite their underlying lack of technical quality and often slow pace, exposing the defensive line to fast players far too often. On top of this, they have signed for the sake of signing, while not signing when desperately required.

For example, when Leicester City signed Bobby De-Cordova Reid this season, the failure to offload Danny Ward and Daniel Iversen, or the unnecessary signings of Alex Smithies and Ryan Bertrand. These were decisions which either have or are still actively weakening the club. Preventing us from signing top-quality talent. At least Nistelrooy's side does have some star players.

At the back, the King Power side ought to try and keep Jakub Stolarczyk. The Polish goalkeeper has been perfectly fine when coming on for the Foxes in place of star player Mads Hermansen. With the Dane likely to leave if Leicester fall into the Championship, the club have to keep the Pole as our No.1 while offloading the unused pair.

In terms of centre-backs, in the context of being in the Championship and wanting to reduce our wage bill, Jannik Vestergaard, Conor Coady, and Wout Faes should be offloaded. In their place, the injured Harry Souttar and new signing Caleb Okoli should be a focus to keep: a towering and strong defender, alongside a more agile and versatile defender.

Ideally, Rudkin et al should look to sign a pacy defender to take a first team spot. However, should this fail, there are three on-loan centre-backs who should be kept as a priority to get Championship experience and break into the senior team: Ben Nelson (the favourite), Tom Wilson-Brown, and Ben Grist. These three show great potential, and we know Nelson is one being tracked by large clubs, to keep the English defender and progress him will strengthen the Foxes greatly.

The fullback situation is almost tragic. Victor Kristiansen has been pretty good but will definitely leave, whereas James Justin has been inconsistent and Ricardo Pereira injured incessantly. Luke Thomas seems to be coming back into the side strongly while new signing Woyo Coulibaly has barely featured and has mainly shown to be aggressive but a little too forward looking for a team trying to defend constantly. So, we should try to offload the Dane, the English right-back, and possibly the Portuguese star to free up the wage bill.

The only senior fullback I would argue has done anything to deserve supporter's demands to retain him is Thomas. The academy graduate performed well against multiple big teams as a left-sided centre-back, working well with Kristiansen particularly. Therefore, instead of doing what almost happened a season ago, Leicester should keep the English leftback at his home. In terms of youth team promotions, Brandon Cover has played right-back at times for Enzo Maresca, and ought to be retained for the Championship.

In midfield, it is hard to say what might happen. Boubakary Soumare probably does not want to play in the Championship, Wilfred Ndidi has been a loyal and determined player, Bilal el Khannouss is simply sensational, Oliver Skipp has barely featured, and Harry Winks has offered us a lot. I would expect to lose Soumare at least, with Ndidi a strong possiblity.

Leicester City must try hard to keep Khannouss, Winks, and a couple of their young midfield talents. Ndidi would be a dream to keep. In terms of youth promotions who should stay for their Championship campaign: Henry Cartwright, Sammy Braybrooke, Will Alves, and Michael Golding should be promoted to the senior side and play in the Championship.

Upfront, Patson Daka and Jamie Vardy are probably on their way out, and the club ought to look at Reid and Jordan Ayew if possible to offload. Stephy Mavididi may also wish to not play in the Championship. In that context, for me it is obvious who Leicester must retain if possible.

Kasey McAteer and Abdul Fatawu are must-haves. However, arguably, Leicester ought to try and keep Wanya Marcal-Madvidua at the club and not sell or loan the talent in the summer. For strikers, the Foxes obviously need to reduce their wage bill but also promote from within. It would also be advised to retain - unless a better player is signed - their two highest potential youth forwards and not sell them for big money in the summer: Jake Evans and Jeremy Monga. The pair have been sensational and are definitely being targeted in the summer.

Overall then, there are plenty of star talents Ruud van Nistelrooy ought to keep, those they should offload, and those they can do nothing about wanting to leave. The Foxes' rebuild will require keeping a strong core in midfield, promote young players, and sign a couple of stars rather than buying many players for cheaper.