close
close

Le-verdict

News with a Local Lens

Leicester news: Is Boubakary Soumaré about to transform the Foxes’ career?
minsta

Leicester news: Is Boubakary Soumaré about to transform the Foxes’ career?

Not all new hires can fit into their new teams like slipping into a comfortable old shoe.

For every Wesley Fofana, there is a Jannik Vestergaard. Caglar Soyuncu certainly enjoyed a season off before Harry Maguire’s move to Manchester United paid for our training ground.

Vestergaard would become the target of boos, unfair when he was bought by a manager who didn’t even play the formation or style that suited the player he wanted.

Now, I’m not saying that Brendan Rodgers didn’t find a diamond in an Ernest Jones shop, but he was going to sign a certain Boubakary Soumaré from Lille on a five-year contract, a few months after winning Ligue 1.

A defensive midfielder who wasn’t the box-to-box midfielder Rodgers wanted or seemed to think he was – poor performances and, to be fair, little playing time saw him sent to Sevilla despite being part of the Community Shield winning team.

Fast forward, and after a “resurgent” season under Maresca, a returning Vestergaard, replacing the reserved Caleb Okoli in the 71st minute in the Carabao Cup match against Manchester Utd, was greeted with cheers and “Thank goodness” in my surveillance conversation, while Soumaré, who played the entire match, also garnished some compliments.

Replacing the underperforming Wilfred Ndidi against Ipswich at the weekend, Soumare would play a huge role in the equalizer. Chase down an attacking Ipswich player, fight to win the ball, win it, ignore an attempted tackle before passing it to Ayew who played a one-two with Vardy, and we know what happened. It’s a goal that would not have happened without the tenacity of Soumaré in midfield.

If Soumaré can turn his Leicester career around like Vestergaard has, we might just have the midfielder we desperately need.

To learn more about Chris Forryan, visit Leicester until I die, external