According to Danny Walke, the latest transfer update from Leicester City could be disastrous for us
Tom Cannon has been connected with both Lancashire clubs. Finally, Leicester City’s 2023/24 campaign went about as well as they could have hoped. Following their relegation from the Premier League at the end of last season, the Foxes secured an immediate return to the top tier of English football. They are likely to return as Championship title winners after a fairly dominant season in the second tier.
Given that few predicted their relegation when they fell, Leicester will undoubtedly be anxious to establish that what happened in their final season in the Premier League was an anomaly. Now it appears that the Foxes are taking moves early in the transfer window to ensure that this is the case. Leicester City wants Akhmat Grozny striker According to Football Insider, the Championship winners are looking to recruit Mohamed Konate this summer.
Konate’s contract with Russian club Akhmat Grozny expires at the end of current season, and he is anticipated to leave to pursue other opportunities. The 26-year-old is reportedly garnering interest from Leicester City, as well as French top-flight clubs Brest and Lyon, after netting 13 goals in all competitions this season. Given the additional firepower this could provide to the Foxes’ offense without costing the team anything, this could be a valuable addition. There is also speculation that it may influence the transfer ambitions of two Championship clubs, Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End.
The Mohamed Konate trade could pave the way for Tom Cannon’s departure. While Leicester appear to be looking for a new striker, one of the players currently on the books at The King Power Stadium is getting interest from elsewhere. Last summer, the Foxes recruited Tom Cannon from Everton on a five-year contract for roughly £7.5 million. This came after the striker had an impressive spell on loan in the Championship with Preston in the second half of the 2022/23 season.
However, after missing the first half of this season with Leicester due to injury, Cannon continued to struggle for game time in Enzo Maresca’s side once he recovered. According to journalist Alan Nixon, Preston are now looking to re-sign the striker on loan this summer, with Blackburn apparently interested in a similar deal. The fact that Leicester are reportedly looking for a new striker in their pursuit of Konate appears to auger well for the two Championship clubs. Given that Cannon has not been a regular for the Foxes in the second division, Maresca is unlikely to want to rely on him too heavily in the top flight.
If they do get Konate, they will not have to do that since they will have another alternatives. If that is the case, Cannon’s lack of game time at King Power in the upcoming season may persuade Leicester to loan him out for the season. That way, they can assure he gets the playing time he needs to improve his game and become a valuable player for them in the future. Blackburn and Preston are both interested; they have the opportunity to do so as well, especially because both of those clubs need a centre forward after struggling for goals in that position this season.
As a result, the knowledge that an established player at this level, whom they are interested in with Cannon, may soon find himself in a situation where a loan move would be optimal for him, might be a significant lift for those clubs. With that in mind, it’s likely that Blackburn and Preston will be pulling for Leicester to win the race to acquire Konate in the coming weeks, for their own benefit.
