By admin 
In nine January transfer windows during their stint in the Premier League, Leicester City rarely got it spot on.
There were good deals, but they often came in conjunction with bad ones. Signing Robert Huth on loan in 2015 was a game-changer, a big factor in City staying up and then winning the title the following year. But in that same window, Andrej Kramaric was signed for a significant fee and failed to make an impact
In 2017, Wilfred Ndidi arrived, the midfielder making an instant impression and going on to be an important player for the club. But the best centre-back City could get that window, despite being able to offer Champions League knockout football, was Molla Wague on loan, a player whose career at the club didn’t even last an hour
In more recent years, City rarely did business in January. They signed Ryan Bennett on loan in 2020, and then didn’t do a deal at all until their triple swoop in January this year, where relegation concerns saw them bring in Harry Souttar, Victor Kristiansen, and Tete. They couldn’t stop the rot
January is often a window for the desperate and is used by clubs who are staring at the drop. But that doesn’t mean those at the top can’t do good business. Or at least, they could in the past. Because the last time City signed at least two players in January and both of them were big hits was in 2014, when they were last in the Championship.
Back then, City went into January at the top of the table with a four-point lead over third place. That’s not quite as strong as the 11-point cushion they currently hold but it was still a solid position as they looked to return to the top flight. Even so, they spotted opportunities to strengthen their squad and took them superbly.
The two signings they made were very different. One was free agent Kevin Phillips, an elite poacher and, aged 40, an experienced head who had earned promotion plenty of times before. The other was an unknown from the second tier of French football, a 22-year-old prodigy who was untested in the English game and who wasn’t even aware of Leicester as a football team, only knowing the city for its rugby club. His name: Riyad Mahrez.
City didn’t need either. Up front, they already had three extremely good Championship-level strikers in David Nugent, Jamie Vardy, and Chris Wood, with Gary Taylor-Fletcher chipping in too. Out wide, City had Lloyd Dyer and Anthony Knockaert who were both performing very well, and while they were a little slim on back-ups, they often didn’t play with wingers at all, instead packing the midfield, operating with wing-backs, or using Vardy and Nugent in wider roles as part of a front three
But the two signings still made a huge difference. Phillips only scored two goals but his game intelligence, shown off with his dummy for Nugent’s late winner at Leeds, was an extra boost. Mahrez was skinny and could be knocked off the ball, but there was occasional magic in his boots, and it allowed City to play with width without relying on just Dyer and Knockaert.
In the end, City finished 17 points clear of third, losing just once in the second half of the season. Those two signings just inched them up to another level that none of their rivals could match.
City are in a similar position with their squad now. They are not in dire need to strengthen any position. In fact, Maresca has said that he would be “100 per cent” satisfied if by the time February comes around he still has exactly the same squad he has now
But he’s also said that he and the club have an idea of what they would like to do. He’s eyeing up a couple of positions that could be strengthened. There is “always room to improve,” he has said.
He’s also spoken of wanting his team to be more “gritty” late in games, something that may be fresh in his mind after the injury-time equaliser at Ipswich. An experienced player signed in January can help with that.
However, it does feel more difficult than 10 years ago to do the deals that City did back then. It was clever on City’s part to see Phillips could still offer something, but he is a rare case. There are hardly any players of that age who have the ability and desire to play in the Championship