Leicester City should launch Sunderland transfer raid to secure Luke Thomas upgrade | OneFootball

Leicester City should try to sign Sunderland left-back Dennis Cirkin in the January transfer window.

It has been a very underwhelming start to the campaign for Leicester City and the pressure is growing on former Queens Park Rangers boss Marti Cifuentes in the dugout at the King Power Stadium.

Regardless of how the next couple of months go, it is clear that, if they can, a lot of work needs to be done on the Foxes squad and one player that could majorly improve them would be Sunderland left-back Dennis Cirkin.

The summer began with the delayed departure of Ruud van Nistelrooy, amid suggestions that Leicester could be handed a points deduction by the EFL at some point this season.

They then sanctioned the sales of plenty of first-team players, with incoming deals limited to the free transfer of veteran goalkeeper Asmir Begovic as well as deadline day loan deals for Jordan James, Aaron Ramsey and Julian Carranza.

The off-field situation will remain uncertain until their position is clarified but, should Leicester be able to do business in the January window, then a move for Cirkin would be opportunistic and very smart.

Leicester should make a move for Dennis Cirkin

Having joined from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2021, Dublin-born England youth international Dennis Cirkin slowly began to establish himself as a key man for Sunderland and one of the best attacking full-backs in the Championship.

He was a key part of the Black Cats signed that gained promotion to the Premier League via a play-off final defeat of Sheffield United at Wembley Stadium in May, and remains highly-rated.

However, a major summer of spending from the club saw them transform their squad and bring in as many as two left-backs with former Atletico Madrid man Reinildo joining alongside former West Ham United defender Arthur Masuaku.

As well as that, Cirkin has been dealing with injury throughout the start of this season and, even though he has recently returned to training with Regis Le Bris’ squad, he is expected to be on the periphery of things at the Stadium of Light.

As a result, the 23-year-old will surely be keen to continue his rise and continue his development, and so Leicester should be opportunistic in pursuing a move for the left-back, who would be a major improvement for the Foxes.

Dennis Cirkin would be an improvement on Luke Thomas

Leicester have a bit of a mish-mash of a squad that is the remnants of several different managers and it has left them in a position whereby they appear to lack much cohesion or tactical identity.

A 1-1 draw against ten-man Middlesbrough, whereby the Smoggies scored an equaliser deep into second-half stoppage-time via Luke Ayling, has left Leicester sitting in the bottom-half of the Championship table after 14 matches.

Their first-choice left-back, despite Victor Kristiansen still being at the club, is academy graduate Luke Thomas, who made his debut for the club back in 2020.

Initially a highly-rated prospect, 24-year-old Thomas is someone who has developed into a reasonably underwhelming and limited player on the left-side of the defence; having been loaned out twice by Leicester, firstly to Sheffield United and then to ‘Boro.

He managed to make just 12 league appearances apiece for the Blades and for ‘Boro, before returning to Leicester as an even more diminished asset than when he had departed.

Dennis Cirkin will be keen for game time and appears unlikely to be able to get that on Wearside and so should perhaps follow in the footsteps of Patrick Roberts, who departed for Birmingham City on a temporary basis on the final day of the summer transfer window.

Leicester have plenty of issues, both on and off the field, but one glaring one, at left-back, could be solved by pursuing a move for Cirkin, and helping him relaunch his career once again.