Leicester City | Season 2016/17 preview.

Can the defending champion retain the title?

Leicester City are the defending champions and The Foxes will try their best to repeat their wonderful performance. For sure, it will be even more difficult for them, but they have nothing to lose. Claudio Ranieri has already built a very good squad, which have very big potential. But, can The Foxes surprise the experts again?

The Transfers:

A lot of new faces have arrived at The King Power Stadium. And this is normal, because The Foxes will need to improve after their magnificent performance last season. Claudio Ranieri knows very well that he will need much more players, as the team is going to take part in The Champions League.

The Italian manager again, didn’t waste a lot of money, but he signed really good players. The former Nice player – Nampalys Mendy was the first player to join The Foxes. Leicester City paid £13 m. to the French club. Mendy is expected to replace N’Golo Kante, who was sold to Chelsea for about £32 m. The other players, who joined Leicester City were the goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler of Hannover 96, Luis Hernandez of Sporting Gijon (for free), Raul Uche Rubio of Rayo Vallecano, Ahmed Musa of CSKA Moscow and Bartosz Kapustka of Cracovia.

The only key player from the last season for Leicester City, who left the club, was N’Golo Kante. The French midfielder was one of the key reasons for Leicester City’s success and took part in the European Championship 2016. That’s why Chelsea paid £32 m. for the defensive midfielder.

Key Players:

Claudio Ranieri can rely on his key players from the last season. They are like a long-time working machine. If Mahrez closes his eyes, he will again pass the ball accurately to Vardy! So, the Italian manager will surely use Schmeichel, Fuchs, Morgan, Huth, Drinkwater, Albrighton, Mahrez, Vardy and so on. When the team is playing well – you just mustn’t make any changes!

However, Mendy is expected to be included in Leicester’s starting eleven, because of the transfer of Kante. Mendy had very good season at Nice, as the 24-year-old defensive midfielder played in all the 38 league matches for his former team!

To continue with, Luis Hernandez was a player of Real Madrid B until 2011, when he moved to Sporting Gijon. He is a central defender and will be with a key role in the new season for The Foxes. But, we must also mention another new signing – the teenager Bartosz Kapustka, who made really good impression at the Euro 2016 with Poland, taking part in 4 games for his nation Poland.

Probable Starting XI:

• 4-4-2: Kasper Schmeichel; Christian Fuchs, Wes Morgan, Robert Huth (Luis Hernandez), Danny Simpson; Danny Drinkwater, Nampalys Mendy (Andy King), Riyad Mahrez, Marc Albrighton (Bartosz Kapustka); Jamie Vardy, Ahmed Musa (Shinji Okazaki).

The History:

The last season’s Premier League title was the first for Leicester City. The Foxes’ only trophies until their great success in the Premiership, were the 3 Capital One Cups, won by Leicester City in 1964, 1997 and 2000. In addition to these cups, The Foxes have won The Championship on 7 occasions, Football League One once and The FA Community Shield in 1971.

But, the most prestigious matches for The Foxes will be during the upcoming season, as they will play for the first time in the group stage of The Champions League. This will be the fourth participation for The Foxes in European club competitions. They have already played in European Cup Winners’ Cup (lost to Atletico Madrid in the first round) and The UEFA Cup (twice eliminated in the first round).

The Expectations:

After winning The Premier League last season, the expectations for Leicester City are very high now! However, it will be very difficult for The Foxes to repeat their success, because nobody is going to underestimate them again. It will be very interesting to see what they are capable of in The Champions League. But, with their participation in the most prestigious European club tournament, Leicester City’s performance in The Premier League is going to suffer! So, the experts believe The Foxes are going to find a place behind the Top 6 in the league.

The team is working very well and I think all the players want to stay with us, to try to improve our last season, which will be very difficult, of course. We know it is very difficult, but we are very ambitious. It is important my key players sign, stay with us, and have experience in the Champions League. I think Riyad Mahrez will stay with us, because he wants to continue with us to make experience, the other things are speculations. I think Riyad is happy, he enjoys every training session and I am glad to have such talented player in the squad.Claudio Ranieri