Emile Heskey believes Leicester City should opt against triggering the £20 million option-to-buy clause in the contract of Roma loanee Cengiz Under, speaking exclusively to HITC.
Next week, the Turkey international will celebrate his sixth month anniversary as a Leicester player. Well, perhaps ‘celebrate’ is the wrong word here.
Under’s time at the King Power has hardly been a roaring success after all. In 19 games, the diminutive wideman has produced just two goals and three assists, a frustrating absence of end product seemingly losing him the trust of manager Brendan Rodgers.
Under has featured in just one of Leicester’s last seven Premier League games, with Rodgers preferring to field Ricardo Pereira out of position on the right-wing instead.
To make matters worse, the 23-year-old is now set for a few weeks on the sidelines after picking up an ill-timed injury.
So, with just two months remaining until his underwhelming stint in the Midlands comes to an end, has Under done enough to earn a £20 million permanent switch? Probably not.
“It’s an interesting one. I remember seeing him (at the start of the season) and thinking; ‘why have they bought him?’,” says Heskey, the former Foxes hero.
“Now, a few months on, I see that he’s fitter but where does he fit (into Rodgers’ team)? “When you’ve got Harvey Barnes, when you’ve got James Maddison, when you’ve got Ayoze Perez, all these players fit, Ricardo Pereira has played on the right as well, where does he fit in?
“He doesn’t fit, to be honest with you, even if I think he’s actually come on leaps and bounds. I don’t think he fits within the system.”
According to EuroSport, Leicester are eyeing a summer swoop for Marseille’s World Cup winner Florian Thauvin, another left-footed right winger who’s statistics (seven goals, nine assists) are far superior to those of Under.
What’s more, Thauvin will be available for free when his contract expires in July. Not only is he more productive than Under, he’s cheaper too.
“I think you can probably get someone a bit more established who can give you a bit more (for £20 million),” adds Heskey.
“(Thauvin) is probably what they’re looking for because they’ve got it on the other side with Harvey Barnes, cutting inside.”
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