Leicester City are rumoured to have made an offer for Lille forward Jonathan Ikone according to Telefoot Chaine. The Frenchman is attracting interest from multiple teams around Europe after impressing during his past two seasons and Inter Milan are also said to have made an offer.
Ikone made 28 appearances last campaign, picking up three goals, and topping Lille’s stats with six assists. The 22-year-old also had a strong season the year before with another three goals and nine assists, which was only beaten by Nicolas Pepe (11) who joined Arsenal for £72million.
He has also represented France at all levels and was called up to the senior squad in 2019 where he scored on his debut for the national team against Albania.
Brendan Rodgers is looking to improve his side’s quality and depth ahead of a busy campaign. The Foxes boss will be hoping Ikone can be his first addition to the squad as the new season quickly approaches.
What type of player is Ikone?
Ikone is a very versatile attacking player who is comfortable playing anywhere in behind the striker. He is left-footed and regularly likes to cut in from the right-hand side to either shoot or look for a killer ball.
This style is very similar to that of Riyad Mahrez who Leicester have still failed to replace since he left in 2018. So bringing Ikone into the team could provide the Foxes with that extra bit of creativity and unpredictability that they have been lacking.
The impressive goal contributions come largely from Ikone’s superb dribbling ability. He is able to breeze past opponents with his brilliant close control and burst of pace which is very hard to contend with. His agility and first touch means he can beat players in one drop of the shoulder and his blistering pace allows him to easily beat defenders to the ball and leave them behind.
Where would he fit and how does he compare?
Considering how versatile he is, Ikone could play anywhere in behind Jamie Vardy. But with the Foxes' lack of creativity from out wide and a supposed focus on improving that area in this transfer window, it would be expected that he would play on either wing.
When comparing Ikone to the current starting Leicester wingers, Harvey Barnes and Ayoze Perez, the French international stands out.
Over the past two seasons, Ikone has created 8.5 big chances on average per campaign and has averaged 1.3 key passes per game in Ligue 1.
Barnes has averaged significantly less big chances created with 4.5 and only made once key pass per game. It is a similar story for Perez, with the Spaniard creating five big chances and one key pass per game.
When it comes to dribbling, Ikone is once again superior. He has averaged a 61% success rate when dribbling past players over the last two seasons, whereas Barnes and Perez both averaged 53%.
Are Leicester looking for a certain type of player?
With the Foxes offer for Ikone being revealed, it has shown that they are definitely looking for a winger who is comfortable on both sides of the pitch and is able to contribute to more goals from wide positions.
Almost two weeks ago, news broke of Leicester's interest in Burnley winger Dwight McNeil. The England U21 international is a left-footed forward who is comfortable taking on players and cutting inside to take aim at goal, which is a very similar style to Ikone.
McNeil's stats are almost exactly the same as the Frenchman's. McNeil averaged 8.5 big chances created over the past two seasons and 1.5 key passes per game.
The interest in these two players gives a solid indication that Rodgers is keen to find a new wide player as he aims to improve his team's creativity and goal involvement from out wide.
