Leicester City transfers: All the club’s big moves since 2016 rated

Not all is well at Leicester City. 

Having been on a memorable journey ever since they miraculously won the Premier League back in the 2015-16 season, the Foxes have played in Europe on three occasions, while they even won the FA Cup in 2021. 

For years, Brendan Rodgers’s side have been the main challengers to the established ‘Big Six’, narrowly missing out on qualifying for the Champions League in 2019-20 and 2020-21.

However, their success has begun to wane and a combination of several significant transfer mistakes and key players such as Jamie Vardy declining has culminated in the club struggling, which has led to a significant backlash towards Rodgers from supporters.

With Leicester seemingly unable to win games without the influential James Maddison – who is expected to receive significant interest from other clubs in the summer – along with players like Youri Tielemans set to depart at the end of the season when his contract expires, a significant rebuild is expected.

Leicester won the Premier League title in 2015-16 after a miraculous and memorable season

They also won the FA Cup in 2021 during an extremely successful and positive time for the club

But, the Foxes have struggled this season and find themselves two points clear of the drop

However, this won’t be easy with Leicester’s past transfer mistakes all contributing to the club posting a £92.5m loss in the 2021-22 financial year. 

With the Foxes just two points clear of the relegation zone in the Premier League, and having been eliminated from the FA Cup last week by Championship outfit Blackburn, the mood around the King Power Stadium is downbeat.

Ahead of what is expected to be a significant turnover of players at the end of the campaign, Sportsmail looks at every Leicester signing of £15m or more since they won the title seven years ago and rates whether the deal to bring them in was a ‘Hit’ or ‘Miss’ for the club.

2016 – Ahmed Musa – £16m from CSKA Moscow

The Foxes’ record signing at the time of his arrival, Nigerian forward Musa struggled and scored just two Premier League goals in 21 games during the 2016-17 season before he was frozen out the following year.

Musa eventually returned to CSKA Moscow on loan before moving to Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia in 2018.

Rating: MISS 

2016 – Islam Slimani – £28m from Sporting Lisbon 

The Algerian forward replaced Musa as the club’s record signing just a month later in an expensive summer of 2016 and started brightly at Leicester, before his Foxes career dipped dramatically after injury.

He struggled in his second season and spent time on loan at Newcastle, Fenerbahce and Monaco before he eventually left the club in 2021, making just one appearance after 2018. Slimani ended with 13 goals in 48 games in all competitions 

Rating: MISS 

Islam Slimani’s £28m move from Sporting Lisbon was one of several costly errors for Leicester

2016 – Wilfred Ndidi – £17m from Genk 

An exceptional player for Leicester during his first five seasons at the club, Ndidi had a big role to play in their FA Cup win in 2021 and memorable runs in Europe.

However, he has struggled for form and fitness over the past two seasons, but with 227 appearances over seven years, Ndidi was a snip at £17m.

Rating: HIT 

2017 – Harry Maguire – £17m from Hull City 

Picked up after Hull were relegated from the Premier League, Maguire was a talisman for Leicester and broke into the England side while he was at the King Power Stadium.

The centre-back was superb for two seasons before being sold for £80m to Manchester United – a mere £63m profit – as Maguire became the world’s most expensive defender.

Rating: HIT 

Harry Maguire starred at Leicester before he moved to Manchester United for £80m in 2019

2017 – Vicente Iborra – £15m from Sevilla

The defensive midfielder arrived at Leicester with significant pedigree, having been a key part of the Sevilla side who won three successive Europa League titles between 2013 and 2016.

However, Iborra and his family struggled to settle in England  – something he later cited as a reason for leaving – and the Spaniard moved to Villareal after appearing just 37 times across two seasons.

Rating: MISS 

2017 – Kelechi Iheanacho – £25m from Man City

The Nigerian forward arrived at Leicester as a 20-year-old and now 26, he has failed to consistently show his undoubted talent and nail down a starting spot.

However, Iheanacho has scored several important goals and has a particular penchant for scoring in cup competitions, with the forward the top ever African scorer in the FA Cup after netting 18 times in the competition.

With 53 goals in 197 appearances – many of which have been off the bench – Iheanacho has proved to be a solid servant for the Foxes.

Rating: HIT 

2017 – Adrien Silva – £22m from Sporting Lisbon

It started disastrously for Silva when Leicester failed to file the appropriate documents for his signing in time during the summer window of 2017, missing the deadline by 14 seconds, meaning he couldn’t play for the club until January.

Things didn’t get much better and after 14 Premier League appearances, he was shipped out on loan to AS Monaco for two seasons, before his contract was terminated by mutual consent in 2020.

Rating: MISS 

2018 – James Maddison – £25m from Norwich City

A shining light for Leicester whenever he plays, Maddison has been an exceptional signing for the Foxes and has taken over the captaincy in recent months with Jonny Evans absent.

He is a talismanic figure for the club and has 54 goals and 37 assists in 191 appearances.

Rating: HIT 

James Maddison has proved to be a snip at £25m and he is a talismanic figure for the Foxes

Vicente Iborra (right) struggled to settle at Leicester after arriving from Sevilla for £15m

2018 – Ricard Pereira – £22.5m from Porto 

The Portuguese full-back stormed onto the scene at Leicester, winning the club’s Player of the Season award during his inaugural campaign after some barn-storming performances.

However, he has battled with injury over recent years, although he did score the decisive goal against PSV to help the Foxes into the Europa Conference League semi-finals last year.

Rating: HIT 

2018 – Caglar Soyuncu – £19m from Freiburg

The Turkish centre-back was once an integral member of this Leicester team, being hailed by Martin Keown in 2019 as ‘a defender made for the modern game’.

However, his form dramatically dipped last season and he has made just two Premier League appearances this year.

Rating: JURY’S OUT 

Caglar Soyuncu initially excelled after his £19m move, but he has struggled over the past year

2019 – Dennis Praet – £18m from Sampdoria

The Belgian midfielder arrived at the club with high hopes after excelling in Italy and while he was part of sides that achieved successive fifth placed finishes in 2019-20 and 2020-21, Leicester have struggled to unlock Praet’s full potential.

He was shipped out on loan to Torino last season and has scored just four goals in 80 appearances in all competitions.

Rating: MISS 

2019 – Youri Tielemans – £40m from AS Monaco

May 15 2021 is all you need to describe Tieleman’s impact and it is a day that means the Belgian midfielder will forever be a Leicester legend after he scored and put in a Man of the Match display to help the Foxes win their first-ever FA Cup.

He has been a brilliant player for the club ever since initially joining on loan in January 2019 and there is great sadness that he looks certain to depart on a free transfer this summer.

Rating: HIT 

Youri Tielemans will go down in Leicester folklore for his display in the FA Cup final in 2021

2019 – Ayoze Perez – £30m from Newcastle

The attacking midfielder was supposed to take his game to the next level at Leicester after making his mark in English football with Newcastle but – after a promising debut season – the Spaniard never kicked on and was loaned out to Real Betis in January.

His nadir at the club came when he was dropped from the squad for a game against West Ham in 2021 after breaching Covid-19 protocols and he left having scored just 14 goals in 115 games, with his contract expiring in the summer.

Rating: MISS 

Ayoze Perez flattered to deceive at the King Power after his £30m transfer from Newcastle

2020 – Wesley Fofana – £30m from Saint-Etienne

Having shone at the heart of Saint-Etienne’s defence with William Saliba, Fofana took to the Premier League with ease as he shone during the 2020-21 campaign which culminated in the Foxes’ FA Cup success.

He badly broke his leg in pre-season in the summer of 2021, before returning to fitness at the back end of last season to help Leicester finish strong.

Fofana was sold to Chelsea for £70m at the start of this campaign, producing another healthy profit for Brendan Rodgers’s side.

Rating: HIT 

2020 – Timothy Castagne – £21m from Atalanta 

The Belgian defender has proven to be a reliable foot soldier for Rodgers whether he plays at right-back, left-back or as a wing-back on either side.

Having racked up 99 appearances and been a key part of the Foxes’ highlights over recent years, he has proven to be an astute acquisition for the club.

Rating: HIT 

2021 – Jannik Vestergaard – £15m from Southampton 

The signing of the defender continues to confuse Leicester fans as after courting Vestergaard for a long period, Rodgers finally got his man in the summer of 2021.

However, it has been another expensive mistake, with the centre-back making just 10 Premier League appearances over the past two seasons and the club have repeatedly tried to move on the out-of-favour Dane, who has been forced to train alone after brandishing Rodgers’ management as ‘strange’.

Rating: MISS 

The signing of Jannik Vestergaard from Southampton for £15m was another expensive mistake

2021 – Patson Daka – £27m from Red Bull Salzburg

Daka – who became the first Zambian to score in the Premier League – has shown signs of his talent since joining Leicester, impressing during a prolonged run in the team this season, while he is the club’s all-time record goalscorer in Europe after netting six times in the Europa and Europa Conference League last year.

However, a criticism of the striker is a lack of consistency with Daka scoring just eight Premier League goals across the past two seasons and he is now seemingly the Foxes’ third choice striker.

Rating: JURY’S OUT 

2021 – Boubakary Soumare – £17m from Lille

Soumare has endured a tough time ever since arriving at the club at the start of last season.

In truth, he has never been trusted by Rodgers and was so poor in the recent FA Cup humbling by Blackburn that it is now hard to imagine him starting another game this season. 

Rating: MISS 

2022 – Wout Faes – £15m from Reims

Despite his well-publicised ‘disasterclass’ against Liverpool when he was unfortunate to score two own goals, Faes has generally enjoyed an impressive debut season in England.

At the age of 24 and having broken into Belgium’s senior squad last year, the defender seems to be a strong investment from Leicester.

Rating: HIT 

2023 – Victor Kristiansen – £17m from Copenhagen

The young left-back has made a bright start to his Leicester career since his January move and he plays in a position that has been an achilles heel for the Foxes ever since Ben Chilwell moved to Chelsea in 2020.

Rating: JURY’S OUT 

Victor Kristiansen and fellow big-money January signing Harry Souttar have shown promise

2023 – Harry Souttar – £15m from Stoke City

After shining for Australia at the World Cup, the giant centre-back has had a mixed start to his Foxes career, but he will hope to continue to develop his promising partnership with Faes while Jonny Evans remains absent.

Rating: JURY’S OUT 

Patson Daka has shown signs of his talent since his £27m transfer from RB Salzburg in 2021