Leicester City eye striker transfer but face huge Facundo Buonanotte obstacle to getting deal done.
Brighton’s Evan Ferguson is reportedly on Leicester City’s radar as they look to add more firepower to their squad in January in a bid to help their Premier League survival hopes.
Leicester City are reportedly considering an eye-catching move for Brighton striker Evan Ferguson as they look to add more firepower in the Premier League survival bid.
City want to sign the 20-year-old Republic of Ireland international in the January window, according to journalist Alan Nixon, and it would have to be for a fee. Premier League clubs can only have one player from a rival side on loan at any given time, and City already have Facundo Buonanotte on a season-long deal from the Seagulls.
It was only 18 months ago, when Ferguson broke onto the scene, that he was being valued at more than £100m as the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea sniffed around. But while his stock is not quite as high after a difficult patch of form in which he’s scored just once in 30 appearances across all competitions, he would still cost a considerable fee.
Ferguson is said to be keen on leaving Brighton in January, having made just one Premier League start so far this season, but it seems he would prefer a loan. That’s not possible for City unless they were to cancel Buonanotte’s loan, or make it permanent.
City looked like they were willing to spend on a striker in the summer when they made an initial bid of more than £20m for Panathinaikos and Greece forward Fotis Ioannidis. But they did not return and instead signed Edouard on deadline day.
The Palace loanee has barely featured, albeit City have not struggled too much at the top end, scoring in every fixture bar one this season. Jamie Vardy is their top scorer in the league with four goals, while Buonanotte and Jordan Ayew have three each.
City looked like they were willing to spend on a striker in the summer when they made an initial bid of more than £20m for Panathinaikos and Greece forward Fotis Ioannidis. But they did not return and instead signed Edouard on deadline day.
The Palace loanee has barely featured, albeit City have not struggled too much at the top end, scoring in every fixture bar one this season. Jamie Vardy is their top scorer in the league with four goals, while Buonanotte and Jordan Ayew have three each.
In his Premier League career Ferguson has scored 17 goals in 74 games for Brighton. Last season he finished with six. According to TeamTalk, Chelsea remain huge fans of the youngster, but are likely to be put off moving for him by the Seagulls’ transfer demands.
