It’s back to the grind for Leicester this season, with Kante’s departure leaving a gaping hole in front of the defence.
Leicester City are tracking Olympiakos enforcer Luka Milivojevic due to fitness concerns surrounding summer signing Nampalys Mendy, the Daily Mirror reports.
Mendy, who signed as a like-for-like replacement for N’Golo Kante this summer after the title-winning watercarrier left for Chelsea, has only featured once for the Premier League Champions, the Community Shield defeat to Manchester United in August.
Consequently, Claudio Ranieri’s side appear a shadow of the team that hustled and harried each and every opponent on their way to a historic triumph last season, with their trademark organisation and solidity appearing to have departed for the capital alongside Kante.
Therefore, the Daily Mirror are reporting that Claudio Ranieri is already preparing to take drastic action in the January transfer window with the Champions just two points above the drop zone, putting Olympiakos midfielder Milivojevic at the top of his post-Christmas wish list.
The Serbian, who has 19 caps for his country, the latest coming in their 1-1 draw with Wales recently, is an aggressive, combative middle man, certainly more of a specialist than the energetic all-rounder Daniel Amartey (below).
However, his accumulation of cards will surely be a cause for concern for the powers that be at the King Power, especially with a short squad likely to be hit hardest by suspensions.
In 12 appearances in league and cup this season, Milivojevic (below) has been booked on five occasions. Kante, meanwhile, a combination of tireless work rate and honesty, picked up the same number of bookings in 54 games since arriving in English football from Ligue 1.
On the other hand, the 25-year-old offers a considerably more reliable creative output, scoring three times in eight appearances in the Greek Super League, while his average of 2.3 tackles per game and 1.7 interceptions across the past three years in the Champions League and Europe League suggests he possesses the determination and the discipline to fill in when required alongside Danny Drinkwater.
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