Boubakary Soumare is prioritising a move to Leicester City despite interest in the £23 million Ligue 1 champion from Premier League rivals Everton and Wolverhampton Wanderers, as reported by the Daily Mail. Just four weeks ago, an exciting Les Dogues side finally sealed its first domestic title since a fresh-faced Eden Hazard was hot-stepping his way to Stamford Bridge, holding off Paris Saint-Germain as the sweet smell of champagne filled the Stade Pierre Mauroy air. Just one month later, however, it’s safe to say PSG expect to reclaim their place at the summit of French football in 2022. That’s because Lille look set to suffer the same fate that befell a Monaco side containing the mercurial talents of Kylian Mbappe, Bernardo Silva, Benjamin Mendy, Fabinho and co a couple of seasons ago. Talismanic manager Christophe Galtier wants a fresh start, goalkeeper Mike Maignan has been unveiled by AC Milan, while Zeki Celik, Jonathan Bamba and Renato Sanches are also in high demand. Soumare, meanwhile, is expected to be a Leicester City player by the time pre-season training gets underway in July, with the best usa online casino offering odds that predict this to be a near-certainty.
The Mail claims the Foxes are confident of tying up a £23 million deal for a France U21 international often compared to Paul Pogba because of his swaggering stride and supreme technical ability. The report adds Soumare was also a target for Everton and a Wolves side that appears to have made a dominant, deep-lying central midfield player its top summer target. Leicester were always Soumare’s first choice, however. Perhaps that has something to do with the fact that, under Brendan Rodgers, the Foxes have a remarkable track record when it comes to turning talented youngsters into elite-level stars, from James Maddison to Caglar Soyuncu and Youri Tielemans to Harvey Barnes. It remains to be seen what sort of role Soumare will play at the King Power. Interestingly, the one-time PSG youngster is at his most effective in the number six role Wilfred Ndidi has made his own.
Soumare, who has been with Lille since 2017 after he was signed form PSG after coming through their academy, is a central player who has already drawn comparisons to the likes of Paul Pogba and Thomas Partey. Soumare revels in his ability to carry the ball through an oppositions midfield and make the pass to set up attackers, defensively, he is a presence and a nuisance to get past. At 6’2, he is a player who, unless up next to an opposition player, plays as though he is a lot smaller when carrying the ball but uses his size to an advantage when defending.
This season, Soumare averages 40.3 passes with an accuracy 86.7% per 90, showing his involvement in midfield play is huge and his contribution on bringing players forward is very important. Defensively he averages 1.2 tackles and 1.2 interceptions per 90, though this is not as much as other box-to-box midfielders, it shows the ability is there and at 21 this can always be improved as he gets better.
Leicester have been masters of the transfer market in recent years, and Soumare would be another excellent addition to the side, to add to the likes of Timothy Castagne, Ricardo Pereira, Caglar Soyuncu, Youri Tielemans, Wesley Fofana and Wilfred Ndidi. All these players have arrived at Leicester for varying fees, but have elevated the team through their performances, and are all being linked with moves to bigger clubs. Soumare could well be another one to join these ranks in the next few weeks, with many an online casino canada rating this as a done deal, as the Foxes build a squad capable of challenging for the Champions League places on a more consistent basis.
