The manager talks the transfer market with Stephy Mavididi, who is set to become the club’s sixth signing of the window after joining from Montpellier in France.
Leicester City manager Enzo Maresca hopes to have “almost the final squad” in place for the club’s Championship opener as he nears a fifth signing of the summer.
Montpellier forward Stephy Mavididi is on course to join City in a £6.5m move with the 25-year-old left out of his club’s friendly against Clermont on Wednesday night as he gears up for a move back to England.
A striker during his days in Arsenal’s academy, Mavididi has played as a winger for most of his three years with Montpellier, during which time he has become the English player with the most appearances in the French top flight, surpassing Chris Waddle.
He would come into the City side as an option on the left flank, where Maresca is short of depth following Harvey Barnes’ £38m move to Newcastle at the weekend. Mavididi and Barnes were team-mates with England’s Under-20s.
It has been five years since Derby-born Mavididi last played in England, having also represented Juventus and Dijon during his time away. In France, he had a good goalscoring record, netting 29 times across four seasons.
City will need further signings beyond Mavididi if Maresca is to have a balanced squad in time to face Coventry on August 6, with another wide-man and an attacking midfielder also required.
While the manager hopes to have the majority of the business done in the next week and a half, he knows that is optimistic, with the window still open for another three weeks after the first game. He expects plenty more incomings and outgoings at the King Power Stadium.
Maresca told BBC Radio Leicester’s When You’re Smiling podcast as City continued their preparations in Thailand: “We are close to the official game. Like every club we hope to have almost the final squad. But we know it’s difficult because there is all of next month also.
“So there’s many players that can arrive and many players that can leave. The important thing is to have, as soon as possible, the squad close, to work with all of them for all of the season.”
City have so far signed four players – Conor Coady, Harry Winks, Callum Doyle, and Mads Hermansen – and welcomed Marc Albrighton and Hamza Choudhury back into the squad. Ten senior players have left, eight on free transfers, with James Maddison and Barnes sold.
