Leicester City fans will hope that the subdued mood that initially surrounded Steve Cooper’s appointment to the Foxes dug-out is replaced with a different emotion of jubilation when the Premier League finally gets underway, as the new Welsh manager aims to steer the East Midlands side successfully back up into the top division and help them thrive.
Cooper will have his work cut out to win over some of his harshest critics, however, when you consider he has only amassed a poor 12 wins from 55 games as a manager in the elite league to date, but the King Power Stadium masses will have to get behind the ex-Nottingham Forest boss no matter what and hope he can succeed as Enzo Maresca’s replacement.
There have been some positives in the transfer window so far, as Leicester aim to add in talents that won’t wilt under the intense spotlight of the Premier League in the form of Caleb Okoli and Michael Golding.
Still, when it comes to major incomings entering through the door, the books will have to be appropriately balanced in due course, which could see this forgotten Foxes midfielder be offloaded for good, ahead of the challenging season to come.
Boubakary Soumare’s transfer to Leicester
There would have been a lot of hype in the air during the summer window before the 2021/22 season got underway that Leicester were going to strike gold with the purchase of Boubakary Soumare from French side Lille, signing on the dotted line for the Foxes for a reported £17m, after just being fresh off a Ligue 1 title success in France.
The then 22-year-old midfielder would also put pen to paper on a bumper five-year contract to sign for Brendan Rodgers’ men, with the world then expected of Soumare to shine in this new English location, to justify the long deal and his excessive price tag.
Unfortunately, it hasn’t been all smooth sailing for the towering 6 foot 2 holding midfielder playing at the King Power to date, with the Frenchman nowhere to be found during Leicester’s title-winning campaign last time out, as Soumare was allowed to join Sevilla on loan instead.
This could mean his future is on shaky ground ahead of the new Premier League season under Cooper, especially when you cast an eye over his underwhelming displays in the top division for the Foxes before he was shipped out to Spain, with reports now circulating that the newly promoted outfit will try to offload Soumare this summer, even if it is for a cut-price.
Soumare’s time at Leicester so far
The former Paris. St Germain youth player has never quite been able to hold down a consistent starting spot for Leicester, way before his loan adventure out to La Liga had even come to fruition.
During his first full campaign in the Premier League, the forgotten Foxes figure would have to wait patiently until the middle of September for his first-ever start in the division, with just 12 starts handed his way across his limited first-team action – coming in at 19 league appearances during the 2021/22 season in total.
