5 Leicester City players who will be targeted by European Superpowers

Leicester City have achieved the extraordinary even if they were to lose out on the title in the final four games of the season. Manager Claudio Ranieri has turned a side working on a shoestring budget into the darlings of the European football brethren in one season as they rose from relegation favorites to title contenders in a span of a little under twelve months.

The upside to their campaign has been the wide-scale interest generated in the Leicester story which will lead up to a ton of commercial opportunities for the club. They will also compete for the first time in the UEFA Champions League next season going toe to toe with the biggest clubs in Europe.

The downside to that move upwards, however, will be the fact that the elite of European football may well look at some of their players in the summer. The chance to relocate to greener pastures and the opportunity to make higher sums of money than most of them have ever known, might interest a good few of this talented bunch.

While most of what we will delve into, hereafter, is pure speculation but the greatest caveat for a fan in football is that in these cases, there’s no smoke without fire or at the very least embers. Here’s a look at five players attracting interest from ‘bigger clubs’

#1 Riyad Mahrez

There is little argument as to the fact that for most of these Leicester players, the chance to play at the pinnacle of football has been one that has quite evaded them. For Riyad Mahrez, the opportunity to play for Marseille and Paris St. Germain didn’t make exactly the best sense as he was transferred to Ligue 2 side Le Havre instead enticed as mentioned, by their youth system.

Admittedly, that scarcely allowed him to project himself at the highest level and even without the top flight football, his performances didn’t really excite the world around him. It did, however earn a move to Leicester, for a nominal fee, where he eventually cut his cheese under Nigel Pearson initially. Under Claudio Ranieri, Mahrez has been transformed into an unbelievable talent freely expressing himself on the field.

His 16 goals in the Premier League include those of immense technique, outrageous speed and skill as well as finishes that define a player’s ability to scrape results. His performances have wowed all those watching around him and in fact the result stands thus, Barcelona have expressed an interest in taking him on.

Not bad at all, if they believe you can compete with the likes of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar Jr. for a spot in the team. With Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham all expressing an interest at some point, Leicester have a fight on their hands.

#2 Jamie Vardy

So you’re playing for a non-league team, you’re a part-time jobber who makes medical splints for a living and the best party you’ve had has been in a local pub with friends who mostly grind out a living. What’s the best that you can hope for really when all of the above is happening while you’re touching 25? Not much. Not for most folks.

Jamie Vardy was different. It does not matter where he played, once he got into his groove he became that team’s best player. So be it with Jamie Vardy who transferred to Leicester City as a non-league record transfer for a million pounds to a championship side. He took a while to get used to it but he found his place in the team and when the premier league era began again for the England star it took him a season before he is showing the world now, as to what exactly he can do on his day.

It’s been his day all season as he has been a vital part of the setup that has fired the Foxes up the Premier League table. His goals, 22 of them in the premier league, stand as the difference between 1st place and a mid table finish for the 29-year-old’s club.

Leicester may or may not win the league but there will be several clubs who shall come calling for Vardy. Not least the likes of Chelsea and Juventus who have kept tabs on him. There’s also the odd word that Real Madrid might seriously look at him in the summer and odder still the chance that he might be linking up with Robert Lewandowski for Bayern Munich. Nonetheless, Vardy will be in demand when the season ends.

#3 N’Golo Kante

N’Golo Kante has taken the Premier League by storm. Having been brought in through the youth ranks in France as a winger, the Frenchman made the shift to defensive midfield at Leicester with ease and panache. His tireless running and crunching tackles in midfield are only bested by his incredible ability to start attacks with the simplest of passes forward albeit made with vision that fails many in his generation of defensive minded midfielders.

N’Golo Kante was close to joining West Ham before he chose Leicester as Slaven Bilic recently revealed, but Leicester seems to have enjoyed that bit of fortune to its fullest. Along with Vardy and Mahrez, Kante forms the popular triumvirate that is essentially firing Leicester to the title up until now. That is the sort of form that attracts the upper crust of European Football and that has been the case for the French midfielder who is now a full international.

Barcelona, Paris St. Germain, Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool, Chelsea belong to a long list of admirers that possess an interest in N’Golo Kante’s services. Whether Leicester can hold onto him or not is a different matter, if Kante does want to move on, he won’t fall short of suitors.

#4 Kasper Schmeichel

The name Schmeichel bears a legacy that one may find difficult to take forward. Can you imagine being the son of Peter Schmeichel and a top flight goalkeeper? Kasper Schmeichel has come a long way since making his way through Manchester City’s youth ranks. Unable to cut it at the top level at that point, Kasper has fought his way back into the Premier League with Leicester and after a difficult first season back up, he has made himself at home since.

Much of Leicester’s good work has been down to the defensive organization they boast and Kasper Schmeichel is the heart of the defensive organization from between the sticks. He has made the jump upwards and many would suggest this would be a good time for him to make the jump to a top team. It would be a logical step forward as well, if he has dreams of rivaling his father’s legacy with his own.

The list of suitors includes the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea but the list will surely expand itself by the time the season ends. There will be interest abroad as players move across various clubs and top keepers retire in the off-season. For Leicester’s sake, they will hope Kasper doesn’t decide to move on.

#5 Danny Drinkwater

The Manchester United academy product never really had a chance to play at the Theater of Dreams while he was rising through the ranks. He had games for the likes of Cardiff, Huddersfield, Watford and Barnsley with whom he enjoyed loan spells but the big honour of making his debut for the Manchester United first team evaded him.

When Leicester signed him, they were a championship team and today they are out there fighting for the premier league title and over a dozen points ahead of his boyhood club. Danny Drinkwater has been a driving force in the Leicester midfield as he continues to keep up his impressive form from the last few years to prove to the world that the Red half of Manchester should’ve given him a chance to prove himself at the highest level.

In the meantime, Drinkwater has courted interest from clubs around the Premier League since his rise to prominence and it is expected that once the dust around Leicester’s title charge ( and hopefully title win) settles, he will be one of the players who will interest a variety of top clubs both home and abroad.

The 26-year-old has really had it tough and it seems that all his hard work is about to come through for him. What he must decide in the summer is if all that he has achieved so far, is enough for him to continue his adventure with ‘The Foxes’.