How Fotis Ioannidis would fix Leicester City emergency and year-long problem
Right now, such is the desperation at Leicester City, any striker will do. Jamie Vardy and Patson Daka are injured and Tom Cannon is seemingly unfancied by Steve Cooper, with winger Stephy Mavididi picked ahead of the young forward on Saturday.
But even before City entered their current crisis, a new striker was desirable. While Vardy hit 20 goals last season, he scored just three in his last Premier League campaign and turns 38 in January. Daka has not scored a City goal since February. Cannon has very little senior experience at all, never mind in the Premier League.
Plus, they’re all quite similar. All three prefer playing on the shoulder of the last man, using pace to run into space. There are nuances to their games that differentiate them. Vardy has a much greater nous inside the penalty area, Daka presses really well, and Cannon has a little more power, both in his body and in his shot.
But none of the three look at ease coming to receive the ball to feet with their back to goal, as was part of the Enzo Maresca plan and has continued under Steve Cooper. Vardy is the best of the trio at it, but he could not be called a natural.
City have not had any variety in their striker options since the start of the year, when Maresca all but stopped considering Kelechi Iheanacho for selection. He may have underperformed last season, but he did provide something different.
So, this summer, if City were going to sign any striker, it needed to be somebody who offered an alternative. Step forward Fotis Ioannidis. The Panathinaikos and Greece frontman is said to be the subject of a £22m bid from City and if a deal can be wrapped up quickly, he could be the man leading the line against Spurs next Monday.
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