Leeds United should look at launching a summer move for one of Leicester City’s promotion heroes from last season.
Leicester were one of the three sides who pipped Leeds to a place in the Premier League but there can now certainly be no harm in taking a look at some of the players who helped take them there.
The Foxes boasted the best defensive record in the division last term and based on those who could leave this summer, Leeds may need reinforcements across the whole back four.
Leeds could lose as many as three centre-backs with work ongoing to re-sign former loanee Joe Rodon, Liam Cooper’s contract offer still unsigned, and Charlie Cresswell likely to leave for around £3 million.
In Junior Firpo and Sam Byram, Leeds also have just two recognised full-backs at their disposal, both of whom had injury issues last season. With that in mind, it would be wise to strengthen on either flank.
Leeds should launch summer move for Man City’s Callum Doyle
Just like last summer, Premier League loans are likely to form a major part of Leeds’ transfer strategy, though genuine links have so far been sparse.
Chelsea’s Alfie Gilchrist is someone Leeds are thought to be looking at but is not currently at the top of the list they are working on behind-the-scenes.
Instead, one player in which they should be looking at is Manchester City’s Callum Doyle, who spent last season on loan at Leicester.
Prior to that, he helped Sunderland win promotion from League One, before then playing a key role in Coventry City going to within a penalty shootout of the Premier League.
Amid a mid-season knee injury, Doyle was restricted to just 17 league appearances at Leicester last season, but was on the winning side in 12 of the 14 he started.
Doyle is equally capable of playing both in the centre and left side of defence, and his versatility is what makes him an incredibly attractive option.
Not only could he provide cover to Pascal Struijk, who last played on Boxing Day, but he could also add a more defensively stable option to the squad at left-back.
During his time at Sunderland, Doyle was described as the best passer of a ball in League One by manager Lee Johnson, and would therefore be a completely different profile to that of the overlapping Firpo.
Another of his former managers on Wearside in Alex Neil also labelled him as a ‘fantastic footballer‘, making him perfectly suited to Daniel Farke‘s patient style of play.
Doyle could be available this summer
Despite his contribution to Leicester’s title winning campaign, the Daily Telegraph have reported he will be returning to Man City this summer.
It appears very unlikely that he will be able to force his way into City’s plans for the upcoming season, with Josko Gvardiol and Nathan Ake just some of the players ahead of him in his position.
At this point, it remains uncertain whether City would be open to another loan move given he has now been at three different clubs, or if they will seek a permanent sale.
Either way, Leeds need to be on it as he could add so much quality to a currently light looking set of backline options.