Yahoo News Leicester City 'ready proposal' for Benfica star with key position needing desperate attention
Leicester City are said to be readying a proposal for Benfica midfielder Florentino Luis, but there are already doubts over whether they could afford him.
City are the latest English side to eye the 24-year-old, Record report, after Everton registered their interest in January. But Benfica have supposedly already rejected a €30m (£25m) offer from an unnamed club for Florentino this summer, and cast doubt over whether City are in a position to meet the Portuguese giants’ valuation.
With Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall set to move to Chelsea, City will be even shorter on senior central midfielders as Steve Cooper prepares to meet his squad for the first time at pre-season training next week. But Florentino is more in the mould of Wilfred Ndidi than Dewsbury-Hall, with the 24-year-old an elite ball winner.
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Florentino averaged 6.8 tackles and interceptions per 90 minutes in Portuguese top flight last season, with only one other player in the division averaging over 5. But he’s not just a one-trick pony.
He has excellent passing stats too. Florentino completed 90 per cent of his passes, including a league-leading 86 per cent on long balls. He also ranked in the top 10 for the division for both progressive passes and passes into the final third.
The former Portugal Under-21 international played 45 times in all competitions last season, but only started 26 times. He was relied on much more the year before, when he made 54 appearances, starting 45 times.
With Dewsbury-Hall leaving, Ndidi not yet committed to a new contract, Dennis Praet released and Yunus Akgun not returning, City are looking desperately short on senior central midfielders with just three remaining in Harry Winks, Hamza Choudhury, and Boubakary Soumare. Albeit, coming through the ranks, they have Sammy Braybrooke and Will Alves, and with Michael Golding potentially on his way in from Chelsea.
City will need to stock up on central midfielders in the transfer window, particularly if Cooper plans to deploy the 4-3-3 formation he used at Nottingham Forest. In that system, the midfield would be a flat trio, all working to protect the defence behind them.
