Leicester City are looking to freshen up their forward line with a potential £60 million, club-record deal for Lille winger Jonathan Ikone, according to Le10 Sport.
While it seems a little strange to say about a team who scored 67 Premier League goals in 2019/20, the fourth-best tally in the division, Brendan Rodgers’ side would benefit from the arrival of a new attacking force.
Despite boasting Golden Boot winner Jamie Vardy, Leicester netted just four times in their final five games of the campaign, drawing blanks against Tottenham and Manchester United as they slipped out of the Champions League places at the eleventh hour.
Neither Kelechi Iheanacho nor Ayoze Perez are yet to fire consistently in Leicester blue, while the Foxes lacked their usual bite when James Maddison was stuck on the sidelines.
France international Ikone would certainly shake things up then.
His £60 million price-tag might feel prohibitive in this day and age but, if Ben Chilwell finally completes that drawn-out move to Chelsea, Leicester will have a huge wad of cash burning a hole in their back pocket.
Ikone, a left-footed right winger whose penchant for cutting inside will draw inevitable comparisons to Riyad Mahrez, he has also been linked with Newcastle, Tottenham and Everton though Leicester have the financial firepower to blow their Premier League rivals out of the water.
“I take the example of Riyad Mahrez or Neymar, who are also very technical,” Ikone told Goal in 2017 when he was still honing his talents at Paris Saint-Germain.
“What I love to do is to beat players. So, when I’m in a one-against-one situation, I won’t hesitate.”
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