Leicester City boss Ruud van Nistelrooy has explained why couldn’t sell a “very important” player during the transfer window.
Leicester only sold one player in the transfer window as the Foxes made the decision to sell Tom Cannon to Sheffield United.
Cannon wasn’t the only player to leave as Hamza Choudhury and Will Alves also departed – both on loans.
There was reported interest from Galatasaray for Wout Faes, but one player who did look closer to leaving than anyone else was Kasey McAteer.
Sunderland made a bid to sign McAteer, but the Foxes rejected it and now Van Nistelrooy has explained why he kept the Irish international.
The reason why Leicester rejected Sunderland’s bid for Kasey McAteer
McAteer has been in and out of the squad for the Foxes and started the first three games under Van Nistelrooy before a spell out injured.
The bid from Sunderland came as a surprise to many but despite a loan to buy offer of £8m, the Championship club’s bid was rejected.
When asked about the bid, Van Nistelrooy said: “One thing for me that was very clear was that nobody was going out until there’s anybody in. I’m sure we can all understand it. I’m looking to bring players in to strengthen the squad, not for players to leave. That was, for me, unthinkable.
“With Hamza (Choudhury) on loan, in his position what we have is enough, so it’s good for him to make minutes. Will Alves is a young lad who needs minutes, needs to play, will be a better player when he comes back in the summer.
“Those are different things. Kasey McAteer is a very important part of our squad on the wings and will have an impact in this season, so it was impossible that he goes.”
Kasey McAteer was in ‘best form of his life’ before injury
It’s clear that Van Nistelrooy is a big fan of McAteer and that the Leicester academy graduate is a part of his plans going forward.
His place in the starting XI has been taken by Jordan Ayew and Bobby De Cordova-Reid in the meantime and the 23-year-old is currently having to settle for coming off the bench.
However, his manager believes that he will get back to his best and that his injury came at a time where he was in good form.
“Kasey did great in the first games against West Ham and Brighton and we were able to collect four big points,” van Nistelrooy said. “It was unfortunate he got injured because he was in the best form of his life. That’s what I spoke to him about as well.
“With an injury, it needs some time for players to come back to their levels. It’s also with minutes from the bench. He’s training hard, he’s a great professional, he’s competing with the wingers that we are using at the moment, with Stephy Mavididi, with Bobby De Cordova-Reid, and with Jordan Ayew that we see as wingers.”