Leicester City told to "absolutely avoid" signing Jeffrey Schlupp | OneFootball

Our Leicester Fan Pundit does not believe a reunion with Jeffrey Schlupp is what the Foxes need

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Former Leicester City man Jeffrey Schlupp has been linked with a move back to the Foxes when his contract expires at Crystal Palace this summer.

That’s according to Football Insider, who report that Leicester are eyeing an approach for Schlupp.

The former Ghana international has spent the second half of the 2024/25 season on loan with Scottish side Celtic, appearing 17 times in all competitions, notching one goal and one assist.

We asked our Leicester Fan Pundit, Louchlainn, for his thoughts on the potential move; he was definitive in his answer.

Schlupp not the right move for Leicester

Speaking to Football League World, Louchlainn said: “So I've seen Jeffrey Schlupp is linked with the move back to the King Power Stadium this summer. For me, this is an overwhelming: avoid.

“Leicester City in the last 12 months have done way too much business with older, ageing players. For me, this isn't what we need. We need to look ahead to the future.

“We have enough experience in our squad. We've got Bobby Reid, we've got Jordan Ayew, we've got Jannik Vestergaard, Conor Coady.

“We've got so many of these older players who have experience, we don't need any more.

“We need to focus on the younger, quicker, more exciting players now to build for the future; build a team first of all capable of getting promoted, and secondly, try and maintain something in the Premier League if we were to go up.

“So, yeah, Jeffrey Schlupp, it sounds like a bit of nostalgia and a quick fix and all of this stuff; free transfer, cheap.

“But for me, absolutely avoid and look ahead to the future.”

Leicester are not desperate for experience

As Louchlainn outlines, this is usually the type of deal that may look nice to add some experience to a squad of younger players, but that doesn’t really suit the current Foxes setup.

Their average squad age this season was 26.2 years old, which puts them around the middle when compared to the rest of the Premier League.

But in the Championship this season, that would have made them around the eighth-oldest squad.

Not only that, but the most competitive squads in the second tier, the likes of Sunderland, Sheffield United and Burnley, tend to be at the opposite end of this scale.

Louchlainn is right to call for an injection of youth in the squad.

One of their brightest sparks in an otherwise difficult season has been Bilal El Khannouss, but the 21-year-old is now attracting interest from the likes of Arsenal following their relegation. Who’s next up at the King Power?

That is the question power-brokers at Leicester should be asking.

Schlupp reportedly earns £25,000 per week at Palace, according to estimates from Capology. If Leicester offer anything close to that, it could easily fund a promising talent, maybe a replacement for Jamie Vardy in attack, rather than adding yet another experienced pro.

Schlupp would, of course, add experience to this Leicester side, but it feels like a squad that needs to refresh what they’ve got rather than bringing back former stars heading towards the twilight of their careers.