Premier League champions Leicester City ended a busy summer of recruitment with the capture of Islam Slimani (£8.5million) from Sporting Lisbon.
The Algeria international arrives at the King Power Stadium on the back of the most prolific season of his career, having served up 27 goals and six assists for the Portuguese outfit.
Foxes manager Claudio Ranieri will be hoping that Slimani’s acquisition helps ease the burden on Riyad Mahrez (£9.5m) and Jamie Vardy (£9.9m).
The pair scored a combined 41 of the Foxes’ 68 goals in 2015/16, netting 17 and 24 times respectively.
Although he lacks the pace of fellow new boy Ahmed Musa (£7.3m) and Vardy, Slimani’s tireless running fits in perfectly with Ranieri’s need for hard working frontmen.
A penalty-box predator, he could force a change in tactics from 4-4-1-1 to 4-4-2, partnering Vardy up top, with central-support striker Shinji Okazaki (£5.9m) dropping onto the bench.
The acquisition of Slimani and Musa looks vital to Ranieri’s plans to cope with a busy upcoming schedule.
Renowned for his tendency to rotate, Ranieri resisted the urge to chop and change last season as he guided the Foxes to the Premier League crown.
This was helped by Leicester’s third round FA Cup exit to Tottenham Hotspur, allowing the Italian to concentrate solely on league matters and hand Vardy and Mahrez 36 Premier League starts apiece.
Already, Vardy has been sold by 322,000+ FPL managers – that is 100,000 more than any other forward this season.
The loss of spot-kick duties to Mahrez in the season opener against Hull City hardly helped, though the Algerian’s subsequent penalty miss against Swansea City in Gameweek 3 may yet see Vardy reclaim them.
Nonetheless, this uncertainty, allied with Ranieri’s summer shopping spree, is concerning for Vardy’s 17.7% owners.
With UEFA Champions League duties now just around the corner, there is a real possibility that Ranieri will now live up to his "Tinkerman” moniker and manage his players’ minutes more efficiently in order to keep them fresh for the season ahead.
