Leicester City must sign Champions League defender who Rio Ferdinand called ‘outstanding’
Leicester City need to invest carefully in the January transfer window to survive Premier League relegation under Ruud van Nistelrooy.
The Dutchman was handed a rude awakening last time out as Leicester City were thrashed 4-0 by Newcastle at St James’ Park, exposing their frailties defensively.
Van Nistelrooy’s men have the Premier League’s third-worst defence, with only Southampton and Wolves conceding more goals than their total of 34.
| Position | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Diff | Points |
| 17 | Leicester | 16 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 21 | 34 | -13 | 14 |
Ahead of the January transfer window, it’s become clear that the Foxes need to sign a new centre-back to rival Conor Coady, Jannik Vestergaard, Caleb Okoli and Wout Faes.
Van Nistelrooy has admitted Leicester are scouring the market ahead of next month, and they would be silly not to go all out to land one of their key targets.
Leicester City should go all out to sign Atalanta’s Ben Godfrey
On Monday, former Everton defender Ben Godfrey was linked with a move to Leicester.
The 26-year-old, who has made over a century of Premier League appearances, joined Atalanta from the Toffees in a £10 million move during the summer.
Sadly, the Englishman is low down the pecking order at the Serie A leaders, with Godfrey only playing four times since his arrival.
Leicester should use his current feeling of distaste to lure the ball-playing defender to the King Power Stadium while offering him a route back into England’s top flight.
Van Nistelrooy currently lacks mobility and pace in his defence, though Godfrey would provide such attributes in abundance, as explained by former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand back in 2020.
“You’ve got two centre-backs playing at full-backs. Ben Godfrey has been absolutely outstanding. The pace he has shown in the last couple of games…were against Timo Werner, Chelsea, the last game against Arsenal,” said Ferdinand on his YouTube channel.
“You look at the pace of the kid. Pepe, £72m worth, I am sure Mr Godfrey would be looking at his pocket and thinking ‘where is he? Someone causing me a bit of friction in my pocket.”
Godfrey’s impressive stats
Godfrey’s pace and agility would allow van Nistelrooy to deploy his aggressive, attacking style without worrying about the consequences.
The Englishman is also a towering presence at the back, making him an aerial threat in both boxes while his tackling ability is second to none, as highlighted by his FBref statistics across the past year.
| Ben Godfrey per 90 statistics | Percentile rank vs defenders across Europe |
| 0.14 non-penalty xG | Top 4% |
| 2.44 tackles | Top 22% |
| 1.18 interceptions | Top 26% |
| 4.54 clearances | Top 1% |
| 2.02 aerials won | Top 3% |
The above table suggests Godfrey would be an all-round upgrade on Coady, Okoli, Vestergaard and Faes, with his defensive prowess much-needed in the fight for survival.
Leicester City will be working hard in the January transfer window to arm Ruud van Nistelrooy with the funds to improve his squad.
Van Nistelrooy has already spoken about transfer plans heading into next month, and Leicester City have multiple areas of their squad that need improving.
A centre-back should be on the agenda as the Foxes have the third-worst defence in the Premier League, with only Southampton and Wolves conceding more goals than them.
| Position | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Diff | Points |
| 17 | Leicester | 16 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 21 | 34 | -13 | 14 |
The Dutchman may also be looking to shift some of his players on to create more room in his first-team squad.
So, with all that said, here’s what a dream transfer window could look like at Leicester City.
Ben Godfrey arrives from Atalanta
Leicester have been linked with centre-back Ben Godfrey heading into the transfer window, and the versatile defender would improve their back line.
Rio Ferdinand previously dubbed Godfrey ‘outstanding’ during his time at Everton and the 26-year-old would some much-needed pace and mobility to a relatively slow defence.
The Englishman shouldn’t be too difficult to prise away from Italy, as he’s only played four times since signing for Atalanta from Everton in the summer.
Also, with Wout Faes’ future in the air and both Conor Coady and Jannik Vestergaard in their thirties, Godfrey would provide van Nistelrooy with a much-needed long-term option.
