Harry Maguire’s departure from Leicester City was expected to have a domino effect on other transfers as the Foxes were reportedly interested in signing Brighton central defender Lewis Dunk, while Brighton signed Adam Webster to replace Dunk.
It now appears that Dunk is going nowhere and Leicester are now interested in other targets – Burnley’s James Tarkowski and Bournemouth’s Nathan Ake.
Sky Sports are reporting that the Ake and Tarkowski are on Leicester’ shortlist to replace Maguire, who has joined Manchester United on an £80 million deal.
Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe is reluctant to let Ake leave the club, but Burnley may be interested in selling Tarkowski.
The report states that Burnley want more than £40 million for Tarkowski, with his release clause set at £50 million. Burnley themselves are lining up a replacement for Tarkowski, with former Chelsea captain Gary Cahill, who is a free agent, on their shortlist.
James Tarkowski or Nathan Ake: Who should Leicester go after?
Tarkowski and Ake are both talented defenders who have been fantastic over the last two years in the Premier League for their respective clubs. The two central defenders are quite different to each other in their style of player.
The Burnley man is a physical defender who is good in the air, is a good tackler of the ball, and puts his body on the line often – a throwback to old-school defending.
Ake, on the other hand, is a modern defender who is good on the ball, can play it from the back and help build attacks, while also seeing the game a few steps before everyone else, and has great composure.
If Leicester City want a similar type of player as Maguire, a defender who can build from the back and drive forward with the ball, they should pursue the signing of Ake. Tarkowski, meanwhile, is an experienced player whose primary responsibility is to defend before moving the ball forward.
The Foxes have two very experienced defenders in Jonny Evans and Wes Morgan, and very inexperienced players in Caglar Söyüncü and Filip Benkovic as the options for manager Brendan Rodgers at centre-back.
Tarkowski would be a player similar to the central defenders that the Foxes currently have, while Ake offers something different with his passing, composure and concentration at the back.
Rodgers should do everything in his power to sign Ake to replace Harry Maguire, even if the fee grabs headlines for being a bit outlandish.