Leicester City's insane £140m transfer window predicted with Ajax, Villarreal and Crystal Palace deals

Leicester City’s return to the Premier League was hampered by the departure of Championship-winning head coach Enzo Maresca.

His exit to Chelsea left former Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper to take charge of the Foxes return to the top flight and he has wasted little time in adding to his squad after of the new season. Since securing their return to the Premier League, the Foxes have completed the signings of Bobby De Cordova-Reid, Michael Golding, Caleb Okoli and Issa Fatawu and have allowed Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to join Chelsea in a £30m deal. The likes of Kelechi Iheanacho and Marc Albrighton have also departed on free transfers.

But what business could Cooper conduct between now and the end of the summer transfer window? We fire up Football Manager 2024 to see how the world’s most popular managerial simulation predicts the next seven weeks will play out for the Foxes boss.

Goalkeepers

There were no changes to Cooper’s goalkeeping options as the new Foxes boss retained faith with the four stoppers currently in his squad.

Cooper’s goalkeeping options: Iversen, Hermansen, Ward, Stolaczyk

Defenders

There were two departures from the defensive ranks as Cooper started to put his own stamp on the squad he inherited from Enzo Maresca. Firstly, Ricardo Periera was sold to Italian club Sassuolo in a £14m deal and centre-back Harry Souttar was snapped up by Celtic as a £6m fee was agreed with the Scottish Premiership giants. There were two new additions at the back as Croatian left-back Borna Sosa joined the Foxes in a £12m deal and a £14m offer was enough to ensure Ipswich Town’s Harry Clarke moved to the King Power Stadium.

Cooper’s defensive options: Faes, Okoli, Coady, Vestergaard, Kristiansen, Justin, Thomas, Clarke, Sosa

Midfielders

It was a case of one-in, one-out in the middle of the park as Cooper made a successful £17m offer for Crystal Palace midfielder Jefferson Lerma. He was brought in to replace Hamza Choudhury, who was allowed to return to the Championship in a £4m deal with Sheffield Wednesday.

Cooper’s midfield options: Soumare, Ndidi, Winks, Golding, Lerma

Forwards

There were no departures in the final third but Cooper did boost his attacking ranks with the addition of two new faces. Firstly, Danish striker Jonas Wind was secured in a £27m deal as he swapped life at German club Wolfsburg for a switch to the King Power Stadium. Arnaut Danjuma was also handed another crack at the Premier League as the former Bournemouth, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur winger joined the Foxes in an £8m move from La Liga club Villarreal.

Cooper’s forward options: Mavididi, Fatawu, De Cordova-Reid, McAteer, Marcal, Daka, Cannon, Vardy, Wind, Danjuma

Ins

Fatawu (£13m from Sporting), Okoli (£11m from Atalanta), Golding (£4m from Chelsea), De Cordova Reid (free from Fulham), Clarke (£14m from Ipswich Town), Sosa (£12m from Ajax), Lerma (£17m from Crystal Palace), Wind (£27m from Wolfsburg), Danjuma (£8m from Villarreal)

Dewsbury-Hall (£30m to Chelsea), Iheanacho, Praet, Albrighton (all released), Pereira (£14m to Sassuolo), Souttar (£6m to Celtic), Choudhary (£4m to Sheffield Wednesday)