Everton & Crystal Palace circle, defender’s exit, January warning

The transfer window is set to reopen in just over one months time, and for Leicester City it could be an interesting time for multiple reasons.

The Foxes are currently top of the Championship but have a number of senior players whose contracts expire at the end of the season, such as Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho, so they could be the subject of transfer offers come the mid-season window.

But head coach Enzo Maresca may also want to add a few more players to his ranks in a bid to strengthen his hand ahead of the second half of the campaign, and players are already starting to be linked to the King Power Stadium.

If there’s one thing that Leicester definitely do not want, it is Premier League clubs potentially unsettling some of their brightest young stars.

One of those is Kasey McAteer, who was handed his opportunity in pre-season by Maresca after spending half of last season on loan in League Two with AFC Wimbledon and he has not looked back since.

The 22-year-old had a fantastic run of form earlier in the season, scoring four league goals in as many games which included a brace against Rotherham in a 2-1 win at the New York Stadium.

A hamstring injury suffered against Blackburn though in October put the winger on the shelf for the best part of a month, but he has recently returned to be a part of the first-team once more.

And due to his performances, it appears that Premier League scouts have been watching the versatile attacker, with Football Transfers claiming that both Everton and Crystal Palace are monitoring the progress of him ahead of January.

With a contract running until the summer of 2025 and City being in the position that they are in, Leicester will be in no mood or desire to cash in on McAteer, but a bid in January could be head-turning or distracting.

The 21-year-old Dutch centre-back has not played a game for Leicester’s first team since moving from Aston Villa in the summer of 2022, instead being used in their under-21’s side.

Appiah was a regular at that level last season, playing 21 times, but he has now headed out on loan to Maidstone United, who are managed by former Wolves defender George Elokobi and play in the National League South – the sixth tier of English football.

At the weekend, the Foxes were linked with a January swoop for Liverpool centre-back Jarell Quansah, who has appeared nine times for the Reds so far this season after spending the second half of last season on loan at Bristol Rovers of League One.

Ex-England international Carlton Palmer has tipped City to miss out on the 20-year-old though to Preston North End due to the fact that Quansah would presumably be behind many of the current defenders Maresca already has in the pecking order.

“Ryan Lowe, Preston’s manager, watched the 20-year-old in action last week and I think, of the both clubs, if he is allowed on loan they would have the advantage just simply because you’d be guaranteed more playing time,” Palmer said when speaking exclusively to Football League World.

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