Premier League side Leicester City FC has continued its high-spending summer with the signing of Rachid Ghezzal from AS Monaco. The Foxes paid a reported €14m for Ghezzal’s services, with an additional €1m in potential bonuses. The Algerian winger joins other marquee signings James Maddison and Ricardo Pereira in Leicester, becoming a part of a busy transfer window for LCFC that has included the departures of Riyad Mahrez and Ahmed Musa.
Now signed on with the 2015/16 Premier League champions until 2022, Ghezzal will be hoping to make an immediate impact for his new club. The former AS Monaco man’s ability has been on display for both club and country, as the 26-year-old has amassed over 100 league appearances between OL and Monaco and has been capped 13 times for Algeria.
Ghezzal is a skillful winger with a playstyle that has been likened to Riyad Mahrez’s, a Leicester great who is he likely replacing. Like Mahrez, Ghezzal is often deployed on the right side of a midfield where he operates as an inverted winger. Leicester’s new man likes to cut in onto his stronger left foot and dart into a more central position where he’ll create for both himself and his teammates. This tactic has found success in Ligue 1, with Ghezzal contributing to 16 Lyon goals during the 2015/16 campaign.
Since 2016 Ghezzal has seen less game time and as a result has been slightly less productive. The €14m Monaco received for the Algerian can be seen as quite a coup given his inconsistencies, but if he finds his feet in England quickly under the management of his former manager Claude Puel then the large fee may pay dividends for The Foxes.
G.M.
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