The Foxes demonstrated it managed to acquire the title with a group of nearly unknown players obtained on a restricted budget in 2015/16. Other clubs are attempting to follow their guide and unearth another diamond in the rough ever since.
It’ll be a challenging job to match Leicester’s notable recruitment coverage within the last couple of years, Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez price a total of roughly £1.6million if the Foxes were in the Championship.
Nevertheless, champions-elect Liverpool have proven it is still possible to find worth in the sector and be prosperous. Andy Robertson’s coming from Hull City to get a fee near to £8million in 2017 today resembles an outstanding part of the business for among the planet’s very best left-backs. The Reds also have been smart in regards to seeing release clauses which are under the market rate, Xherdan Shaqiri and Takumi Minamino have supplied useful squad thickness over the previous two seasons for comparatively modest outlays.
It’s, hence, no surprise to the remainder of England’s top flight are doing everything possible to follow suit, to find that the’second Kanté’ high on the plans of recruiting teams throughout the nation.
It is perhaps no surprise that the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Goodison Park have been talked about as two possible destinations such as Santamaría, with the two clubs needing midfield reinforcements in the summertime. Everton specifically never appear to have satisfactorily replaced Idrissa Gueye because of his transfer to Paris Saint-Germain, while Tanguy Ndombele has not lived up to expectations in Spurs later his big-money transfer out of Lyon.
Together with Santamaría certainly appears to match in with Leicester’s recruiting strategy of seeing talent at nightclubs farther down soccer’s food chain, there might be a three-dimensional tussle for his services if the next transfer window rolls around. If we have a peek at the prior France Under-20 global’s statistics from this year it will become clear why he’s in such high demand. The guy from Saint-Doulchard has remarkable distribution abilities, using a more than commendable 81.6 percent departure precision from 47.33 moves attempted per 90. While these numbers may be relatively simple to accomplish by playing tidy and neat chunks to team-mates, Santamaría does not shy away from harder passes. He’s tried an average of 7.90 extended moves per 90 throughout the present effort, finishing 4.99, that is within the top 30 players at all of Ligue 1.
Santamaria is not as impressive with no ball and can be equally proficient at dividing drama.
Running a mean of 12-13km a match, it is not too surprising that Santamaria has been bringing comparisons to Kanté, but all of the evidence indicates he has the capability to be a likewise whole central midfielder. With first-class ball-winning and passing skill together with the athleticism needed for Premier League soccer, everything points to him being a rewarding investment for any top-flight club pursuing a Champions League place next year.
That is before you even contemplate how much he’d price. Angers are thought to have rejected a #10million deal from Aston Villa before this season, however, there are hints that a deal may be struck in approximately £14million. That’s a deal in the current market and will certainly have teams battling for his trademark within the forthcoming months.
The age of game-changing deal basement signings is not over, however, and Santamaría would be another name to celebrity in England after coming for a rock-bottom fee in the continent.
