Leicester City set to beat Chelsea for striker

Per reports, Leicester City are set to beat Chelsea for the signature of Juventus striker Simone Zaza

While most of the English media has been focused on the players Leicester City might lose this summer, the club itself seems to be more intent on adding to its talent during the upcoming transfer window. The latest rumor has the Foxes beating out Chelsea for the services of Old Lady front man Simone Zaza.

The Mirror reports that while Chelsea have held talks with Juventus over Zaza in the past, it’s now the Foxes who have the momentum in the race for his services. The 24-year-old striker has plenty of talent, but has struggled to cement a place in the star-studded Serie A attack.

Fortunately for Zaza, a move to Leicester would allow him the opportunity to play consistently alongside Jamie Vardy in manager Claudio Ranieri’s preferred 4-4-2 system. One would have to believe Zaza could manage to beat out the likes of Leonardo Ulloa and Shinji Okazaki to carve out a spot in the starting 11.

In all fairness, I have my doubts about whether or not Chelsea are really putting much effort into the chase for Zaza. Recent reports claim that Antonio Conte is much more focused on acquiring Napoli hit man Gonzalo Higuain which would seem to make a purchase of Zaza rather redundant. I suspect this is more a case of Leicester City stealing a march on a player who is a secondary target for many of Europe’s elite clubs. This would allow them to sign him before his market really reaches its apex.

Still, it would be a strong signal of progress for the Foxes. The football world will closely monitor the club’s transfer sales and purchases this summer to see if they have real ambition to defend their crown. They’ll also need to add quality throughout the squad to deal with the challenges of Champions League football next season. The Foxes benefited this season from a lack of involvement in European competition. Next year, they’ll face a lot more mach days with significant accompanying travel.

Leicester City will try their best to make their fairy tale run to a Premier League title stretch into the transfer window as well. It will be quite interesting to see whether or not they’re able to make as big a splash this summer as they did this May.

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