Leicester Transfer Update: Ryan Bertrand and Boubakary Soumare

Leicester City has certainly been busy in the summer so far, first bolstering attack with highly-rated Patson Daka for £27Mil. There are now two more recruits to the Foxes’ ranks: Boubakary Soumare who has been signed for £18Mil from Lille, and familiar face Ryan Bertrand due to be announced, having agreed to join on a free-transfer from fellow Premier League club Southampton.

Ryan Bertrand

I would like to think that everyone will already recognize Ryan Bertrand, who has been in the Premier League most of his career anda regular for the best part of a decade. Bertrand started his career at boyhood club Chelsea FC where he was shipped out on loan multiple times before landing at Southampton.

He was a highly-rated youngster, getting his first Senior England debut back in 2012 and going on to make 19 appearances for the Three Lions (his last in 2017). Bertrand has previously worked with Brendan Rogers in his time at Chelsea. He presents a solid and reliable option as a left-back who can feature in a wing-back role. Bertrand has been a strong servant for Southampton over the years, even chipping in with the occasional goal or assist. His numbers in the last couple of years haven’t been amazing, but playing for a better side in Leicester will likely present him with more attacking opportunities.

Boubakary Soumare

Boubakary Soumare is a highly-related French U-21 international who just had an excellent season in his domestic league, helping Lille to an impressive an unexpected League Title. Soumare is a towering and tenacious figure who operates as a defensive midfielder, screening the back four. Anyone who follows Ligue 1 will remember his athletic prowess and willingness to retain ball possession while carrying the ball well and trying to release his teammates further forward. His attacking stats aren’t amazing, but this is generally expected with his position within the team; chipping in with the odd assist and goal. The main questions will be: How does he adjust to the English game? How long will it take to get some game-time? A plus for Soumare is that he does have UEFA Europa League experience.

Fantasy Prospects

Ryan Bertrand isn’t yet formally announced as a Leicester player, so he’s not currently available (unless you can find him as a Saint) across FPL and Fantrax. In FPL he was priced at £5.0Mil, so I would expect this season to be the same. This would be the same price as fellow fullback James Justin who is currently out with a long-term injury, which bolsters Bertrand’s chances of starting. Castagne (who had some injury problems at the Euros) is usually nailed on, so Bertrand will be battling it out with the experienced Ricardo Perreira (£5.5Mil) and youngster Luke Thomas (£4.5Mil); as of this moment in time it’s difficult to predict who is going to start, but should Bertrand be favoured then he’s not a bad fantasy asset to own, especially with some decent fixtures early on.

Boubakary Soumare is priced at the cheaper end of the spectrum in FPL at £5.0Mil, which is expected for a defensive-midfielder. Defensive midfielders aren’t usually viable fantasy options. At this price bracket in FPL, there isn’t much else in the way of great value (Hojbjerg, Rice, Ndidi, Dendoncker, Kante), so depending on team budgets, some managers may just opt to go down to a cheaper price-point such as Bissouma, Brownhill, Luiz at 4.0-4.5. At the moment, Soumare looks more like a long-term option for Leicester and will backup Ndidi and Tielemens who look set to start in midfield.

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Have you started tinkering with your fantasy picks for the upcoming season? Who are you looking at? What new-to-EPL players excite you either as a fan or for fantasy value? Do you have any questions? Please share in the comments below, and remember to join our leagues (FPL and Fantrax)!

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