Steve Cooper has his work cut out if he is to keep Leicester City in the Premier League this season.
Things have settled down slightly after a turbulent start to the summer saw Leicester City lose both their manager and best player with Enzo Maresca and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall both heading to Chelsea.
Steve Cooper was appointed having been out of work since being sacked by Leicester’s rivals Nottingham Forest in December.
The Welshman’s association with Forest will soon be forgotten if he can survive relegation with Leicester in the forthcoming campaign, but it will be far from easy.
Financial issues meant the sale of Dewsbury-Hall was needed but since then Leicester have made four signings in the shape of Michael Golding, Caleb Okoli, Abdul Fatawu and Bobby De Cordova-Reid.
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Further reinforcements are required to boost the Foxes’ bid to avoid Premier League relegation and here are five things that must happen this month if Cooper is to achieve that feat.
Leicester City must complete Yaser Asprilla singing
The first thing that needs to be done in August is Leicester simply have to sign a winger.
Currently, the only real options out wide are Abdul Fatawu and Stephy Mavididi.
De Cordova-Reid can play on the right but impressed in an attacking midfield role against Augsburg in pre-season and should continue in that position.
The pursuit of Matias Soule has now ended, with the Juventus winger chosing to sign for AS Roma, but Cooper could soon resolve the winger issue with the £21 million signing of Watford speedster Yaser Asprilla.
Asprilla scored six goals and provided a further seven assists in the Championship last season and is only going to get better given he is just 20, so this looks a deal Leicester need to get over the line.
Leicester must take points off Fulham
Leicester have three Premier League games in August prior to the first international break of the season.
It is not an easy start, with the Foxes welcoming Tottenham Hotspur to the King Power on the opening weekend, before facing Fulham away on match day two and Aston Villa at home in week three.
Getting points on the board early is crucial, particularly psychologically, and a strong start could breed positivity amongst the squad and fanbase.
Of the three fixtures, Fulham is the one that Cooper has most likely identified as a game that Leicester must take something from.
If Leicester can go into the two week international break with points on the board it will massively increase confidence in the ability of the squad to compete in the top flight.
Leicester need to sign a striker before transfer window closes
With Kelechi Iheanacho leaving upon the expiration of his contract, Leicester likely need a striker this summer.
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Jamie Vardy’s injury meaning he is expected to miss the start of the season has only served to increase the urgency regarding this issue.
Despite being 37 Vardy is still integral at Leicester, but Cooper would be naive to pin Leicester’s survival hopes on the ageing forward.
If anyone can do it, perhaps Vardy can, but Leicester need more firepower.
Patson Daka is very hot and cold and is far from prolific so Cooper needs a reliable forward to join his ranks before the end of August.
Cooper needs to decide on his first-choice centre-back partnership
How solid Leicester are defensively will have a huge say on whether they remain a Premier League club for the 2025/26 season.
Last season, Maresca favoured the central defensive partnership of Jannik Vestergaard and Wout Faes, but Conor Coady has a lot of Premier League experience and could push to start under Cooper.
Leicester have also spent £12 million to sign Okoli from Atalanta this summer and – given the club’s financial woes – it would be a surprise if they parted with this kind of fee for a player who will not start.
Cooper will need to decide which two of those four players should start for him and stick with it in order to allow a partnership to form in a key area.
Leicester should keep an eye on the loan market this month
With Cooper unlikely to be able to sanction too many purchases this month, the loan market could become very important for Leicester.
As the transfer window draws towards a close, more players tend to become available on loan as they learn whether they are a part of their club’s plans for the new season or not.
This could be best way to sign a striker for the campaign, given players who can score at the top level come at a premium.
One such option could perhaps be Chelsea striker Armando Broja.
Chelsea are looking for a sale, but if that does not happen they could sanction a loan for the Albania international.