Nine Leicester City summer transfer targets and what happened next

There were Leicester City transfer targets who went to Leeds, Genk, Midtjylland, and other clubs instead of joining Enzo Maresca’s squad at the King Power Stadium.

Leicester City signed nine players this summer, but not every player with whom they were associated ended up at the King Power Stadium. So we’ve chosen nine additional players that were said to be interested by City and will see where they end up this summer.

Prior to the arrival of Mads Hermansen, US international Zack Steffen appeared to be the goalkeeper City might sign, despite the club turning down an opportunity to buy him the previous summer.

That could be owing to knee surgery he had earlier this summer, which is expected to keep him out until at least October. That could be why he is still a Manchester City player for the time being.

One of the first players City were linked to was QPR’s Ilias Chair, with the Moroccan international emerging as a potential James Maddison replacement even before the sale to Tottenham had gone through, and before Enzo Maresca had been appointed as manager.

Those rumors died down until the final few days of the transfer window, when City were looking for a midfielder in case Wilfred Ndidi moved, but that didn’t happen, and Chair is still at QPR. He has started all five Championship games for them this season, but has yet to score or assist.

Harwood-Bellis, Taylor

Maresca stated that he wanted another center-back, and they would have definitely required one if both Harry Souttar and Jannik Vestergaard had departed, which was a possibility, but late intentions to bring in another young Manchester City player were thwarted when Southampton beat them to Taylor Harwood-Bellis.

On paper, it appears to be a very solid signing, with the 21-year-old assisting Burnley to promotion last season and then winning the Euros with England Under-21s in the summer. He was an unused substitute in the Saints’ 5-0 thrashing at Southampton and might make his debut against City on Friday.

Jesurun Rak-Sakyi

Crystal Palace’s Jesurun Rak-Sakyi seemed ideal for what City wanted in a right-sided winger, as someone who was quick, was adept in one-on-ones, and had the end product to go with it too.

But the barrier to him leaving was that Palace’s other attacking options weren’t fit, and so the 20-year-old was involved in their first team. That’s how it played out, Rak-Sakyi staying with the Eagles, and he will hope to build on the two appearances he’s made for Roy Hodgson so far this season.

Joel Piroe

Dutch striker Joel Piroe is probably the most exciting player on this list given his consistent scoring record for Swansea over the past two seasons. But it always seemed like City would have to sell Kelechi Iheanacho before they made a move, and so he ended up leaving Wales for Leeds in a deal worth at least £10m.

He seriously strengthens a promotion rival of City’s, and netted on his debut to help Daniel Farke’s side beat then-leaders Ipswich 4-3. He got 22 goals in his first Championship season and 19 in his second. Leeds will hope he can at least get close to those sorts of numbers.

Andi Zeqiri

Out of favour at Brighton, Zeqiri looked like he could be a striker option for City. He had had a decent season on loan at Basel last term, was a good age and was fairly cheap too.

But speculation quickly died and it wasn’t until after the end of the transfer window in England that Zeqiri got his move, the Swiss international making the most of the extension in Belgium to move to Genk for a modest £2.4m this week.

Tom Cairney

Another player who was mentioned early in the window, Tom Cairney would have seemed like a smart signing given his success in the Championship previously with Fulham.

And it felt like a deal would be doable with the midfielder now 32 and his Cottagers game-time dwindling a little. But, he’s stayed in the capital and has played in three of their four Premier League games so far, starting and captaining the side in their opening-day win over Everton.

Dario Osorio

A surprise name in that City have never previously signed a player directly from South America, but there were prominent suggestions in Chile that teenage international winger Dario Osorio was on his way to the King Power Stadium.

While not with City, he did get a move to Europe, joining Danish side FC Midtjylland, and made his debut off the bench in a 1-1 draw at the weekend. Midtjylland are renowned as clever operators in the transfer market, so it will be interesting to see how Osorio’s move and his future pans out.

James McAtee

A name that only emerged in the final few days of the window was James McAtee, with City again considering options in case Ndidi left. The young Man City midfielder, who played under Maresca a few years ago, felt like a very good fit for the number eight positions in the manager’s system.

But having helped Sheffield United to promotion, the 20-year-old has headed back to Bramall Lane on loan again this term, and he will be playing alongside Luke Thomas.