Steve Cooper has welcomed four new arrivals at Leicester City this summer: Michael Golding, Caleb Okoli, Bobby De Cordova-Reid, and last season’s loanee Abdul Fatwau, who has now made his move permanent.
Despite these additions, Leicester has lost their last two pre-season fixtures 1-0, including a recent defeat to Augsburg in Germany.
One bright spot in the Augsburg match was De Cordova-Reid’s performance, but Cooper recognizes the need for further reinforcements before the season starts.
Steve Cooper Expresses Transfer Frustrations at Leicester City
While pre-season results are not always indicative of regular-season performance, two consecutive losses with only one friendly remaining before the Premier League season is worrying.
Adding to these concerns is the news that Jamie Vardy is likely to miss the start of the campaign.
After the Augsburg defeat, Cooper emphasized the need for attacking recruits and shared his frustrations with the transfer market.
In an interview on the club’s website, Cooper stated, “We want to add players to the squad, particularly at the top end of the pitch.
That’s what we’re trying to do. We were so close to getting a few in this week that haven’t quite worked out. So we’ll move on to the next ones.
“We know where we want to strengthen, we know where we want to improve. If we can improve a starter in the team, we’ll do that, and we know we need to strengthen the competition in some places as well.”
Cooper added, “We’ll be working hard on the pitch. We’ll be working hard off the pitch to try to bring players in. Hopefully, we’ll continue to improve and progress and be ready for that first game.”
Leicester Miss Out on Key Target as Matias Soule Joins Roma
One of the players Cooper referred to is 21-year-old winger Matias Soule. After an impressive season on loan at Frosinone from Juventus, Leicester made a concrete £21 million bid for Soule.
However, the player chose to stay in Italy, signing with AS Roma. This left Leicester frustrated as they missed out on a player who could have significantly bolstered their attack.
Leicester has now turned their attention to Watford winger Yaser Asprilla, with a similar fee to that offered for Soule.
Cooper hopes to secure Asprilla’s transfer without any last-minute issues as Leicester aims to improve their fortunes in the transfer market this summer.
