It’s no secret that the transfer window is always busy for Leicester City.
The Foxes have known to be busy operators in recent years and in the recent summer window, signed nine players.
January is often a tougher time for clubs to make signings given the shorter timeframe to get deals done, as well as general lack of availability.
Leicester have signed some great players in January, but in other cases, not every signing has gone to plan.
From big money disappointments to deadline day panic signings, they don’t always hit the ground running at the King Power Stadium.
So, with that, here are the three worst signings made by Leicester in the January transfer window.
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3 – Harry Souttar
| Year joined: 2023 |
| Joined from: Stoke City |
| Transfer fee: £15m |
It may feel harsh to include Harry Souttar in this given that he has looked solid when playing for Leicester, but the problem is, he hasn’t played enough.
Joining in the Premier League relegation campaign of 2022/23, Souttar was a regular to start with but soon lost his place in the side.
Last season, under Enzo Maresca, Souttar played just four times and was sent out on loan to Sheffield United following a return to the top flight.
Souttar unfortunately cut his loan short due to injury after an impressive campaign and it seems inevitable that he will depart permanently when he’s fully recovered in the summer.
But, given the money spent on the Australia international and during a time when Leicester were fighting relegation, it’s a signing that won’t be looked back on too fondly.
2 – Andrej Kramaric
| Year joined: 2015 |
| Joined from: Rijeka |
| Transfer fee: £9m |
Similarly to Souttar, it does seem slightly harsh to include Andrej Kramaric in this list on first glance.
Kramaric turned down a move to Chelsea in favour of signing for Leicester in January 2015, with the Foxes paying a then-club-record fee of £9m for his services from Rijeka in Croatia.
The forward joined at a time when Leicester were facing an uphill battle to stay up and was seen as the player who could help turn their fortunes around.
He only managed to score two goals in 15 games for the Foxes across the two seasons and failed to qualify for a Premier League winners’ medal in 2015/16 after playing two league games, failing to meet the minimum of five.
Life after Leicester has been good for Kramaric, who now has more career goals than Jamie Vardy, after he joined Hoffenheim on loan before making his move permanent, where he still is today.
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1 – Ryan Bennett
| Year joined: 2020 |
| Joined from: Wolves |
| Transfer fee: Loan |
With Leicester chasing a Champions League spot at the time, Brendan Rodgers was in need of strengthening his options at centre-back following an injury crisis.
The Foxes chased and chased to get a deal done and on deadline day, opted to bring in Ryan Bennett on loan from Wolves on deadline day in January 2020.
Bennett was a panic signing at best and despite performing well in his debut in a 4-0 win against Crystal Palace offered little to nothing and was part of a side who fell away and missed out on a top four spot on the final day of the season.
Unsurprisingly, the £5m option to buy clause in his contract wasn’t activated and Bennett ended up joining Swansea City.