The Leicester City manager wants loan moves for players who won’t feature this season so they can develop their games and come into the first team in the future
Exits are possible for Leicester City in the final week of the transfer window with Steve Cooper hoping the club can organise loan moves for future starters.
While the focus is on bringing in two new attacking players, Cooper said there is the potential for departures too. Boubakary Soumare and Tom Cannon are among those attracting interest, while Cooper has said the club are working to secure loan exits for promising talents.
With Cooper strengthening his squad this summer and with further recruits wanted, chances of game-time may be limited for those in the youngsters making the step from Under-21s to senior football. To give them a better chance of making the grade at City in the future, he wants them to get minutes out on loan.
Players in that bracket include the likes of centre-back Ben Nelson, winger Wanya Marcal, attacking midfielders Will Alves and Michael Golding, and deep-lying midfielder Sammy Braybrooke. The club have already loaned out last season’s development squad player of the year, Silko Thomas, who has joined Wigan in League One for the campaign.
Asked if there departures planned at City before Friday’s transfer deadline, Cooper said: “It’s possible. It’s also possible… there’s a lot of good young players, some that have been training with us regularly, some that have been back and forth, and some that we’re fully aware of that are in the under-21s programme.
“We have a natural interest in looking at the younger teams. All the coaches here have come through an academy system, so it’s something we respect and are interested in.
“Loans are an important part of development. There are some players we see playing for us in the future, in the first team, who we think a loan would be the right thing for them. We always make these decisions on what’s right for the player.
“We don’t want to keep players with us to make up numbers. You have to have cover and strength in depth, but if they’re here for strength in depth, it means you’re happy for them to play in the team.
“We’ll make some good decisions on what we do with some of the young players and the loans they have or don’t have. Sometimes it’s right to not send them on loan and instead keep them in training and develop them internally.”
Nelson and Cannon seem set for the Championship with plenty of interest in both. After Oliver Skipp and Jordan Ayew were included in the City squad for the first time at Fulham, Nelson and Cannon were the two to give up their places on the bench.
City have four centre-backs ahead of Nelson in the pecking order, albeit rumours that Wout Faes is seeking an exit, as well as the injury to Conor Coady, may impact the club’s thinking. For Cannon, there’s Jamie Vardy, Patson Daka, and potentially a new striker ahead of him. Ayew also spent the final 20 minutes of Saturday’s loss at Craven Cottage up front.
Soumare is another contender to go amid interest from France and Italy. Skipp’s arrival means City now have five first-team players for the deep midfielder spots, with Harry Winks, Wilfred Ndidi, and Hamza Choudhury also available to Cooper.
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