Leicester City’s seven most costly signings, from worst to best.

Leicester City’s seven most costly signings, ranked from worst to best

How do some of the Foxes’ most expensive signings ever rank, from Islam Slimani to James Maddison?

 

Leicester City have spent a lot of money on transfers in order to strengthen their team during their time as a Premier League side.

The Foxes’ significant spending occurred after they won the title in 2016, having been successful with relatively inexpensive upgrades to their setup in comparison to other top flight clubs, but they needed to keep up with their opponents, so King Power spent millions.

However, how do Leicester’s seven most costly signings rate from best to worst? Let us investigate…

Islam Slimani

Leicester surpassed their transfer record in 2016 after winning the Premier League to recruit Slimani, paying Sporting CP of Portugal the better part of £28 million after he scored 57 goals in 109 appearances in Lisbon.

Slimani’s form did not translate to English football, though his first-season record of seven goals in 23 appearances was not bad.

In 2017-18, he fell out of favor and was loaned to Newcastle for the second half of the season before spending the next two years with Fenerbahce and AS Monaco.

Slimani returned to Leicester temporarily in 2020-21, but only featured once before leaving for Lyon – he wasn’t the best purchase the Foxes could have made.

 

After five happy years at Newcastle United, Spanish forward Perez moved to Leicester for £30 million, but aside from his first year, when he scored eight goals, he never really got going at the King Power Stadium.

Perez only scored three goals in his second season, and by the time the 2021-22 season arrived, he was frequently a replacement – and often an unused one.

Perez was loaned out to Real Betis in the second half of last season and eventually joined permanently during the summer following his exit from Leicester – he was a costly, uninspiring buy for the club.

 Patson Daka

The jury is still out on Daka, who cost £23 million in 2021 when signing from Austrian outfit Red Bull Salzburg.

Prolific in Austria with 34 goals in 42 outings in his final year at Salzburg, Daka did score 11 times in his debut season for the Foxes, although five of those came in the UEFA Europa League.

Daka hasn’t had as much success in-front of goal domestically, netting just four times in the Premier League last year, and after transfer moves broke down late on this past summer, the 24-year-old will now have to prove himself to Enzo Maresca, as well as live up to his price-tag.