Leicester City could land full-back Valentin Barco on loan in January, as per Alan Nixon, should Manchester City sign him from Boca Juniors in time.
Leicester City poached Enzo Maresca from Manchester City in the summer.
Since, the Italian has prevailed in the Championship with his side returning to winning ways vs Watford yesterday, and pulling three points ahead of Ipswich Town who lost at West Brom.
The summer transfer window was a positive one for the Foxes and many expect them to make a couple of additions in the January transfer window as they look to secure their immediate return to the Premier League.
And it looks like Barco could be one who joins Leicester City in the New Year.
What has Alan Nixon said?
Nixon has revealed on his Patreon this morning that Manchester City are keen on signing Boca Juniors’ left-back Barco.
And Nixon adds that City boss Pep Guardiola is keen for the 19-year-old to gain some more experience before he’s considered at City, and that Guardiola wants to help out former no.2 Maresca by lending him Barco.
It’s said that a deal could yet go through in January. But if not then City and Guardiola would still be keen to send Barco to Leicester City, and they could do so ahead of next season if not in January.
Do Leicester City need a left-back in January?
As far as left-backs go, Leicester City don’t have a natural one in their current squad.
Ricardo Pereira and Callum Doyle have both played in that position; the latter was impressing at left-back, but the City loan man has since been sidelined with a significant injury.
Justin James has come into the side and he’s done well, albeit not overly-impressive, so there’s certainly space for a new left-back to come in in January.
City will have done their homework on Barco and the link alone should tell us that he’s definitely a player with big potential.
And Maresca has already used his City connections to bring in Doyle this season and he could look to his old club again in January, with Barco to Leicester City potentially beneficial for everyone involved.
Maresca will have him playing in a similar style to what Guardiola would deploy at City and given the lack of left-backs at the King Power, Barco could get a lot of first-team exposure should he head to Leicester City in January.
First though, City need to get a deal over the line; if they do that then Leicester may well have a January signing in the bag.