Leicester City transfer move for Birmingham City star may leave some unhappy | OneFootball

Leicester City are making a move for an establish Championship star, but his goalscoring record might not be what the Foxes need.

Leicester City are reportedly in the market for a new striker, but while the one they've alighted on is clearly talented, his goalscoring record might not be what the Foxes need right now.

It's not difficult to reach the conclusion that Leicester City have really come to miss Jamie Vardy. The striker left The King Power Stadium in the summer of 2025 upon their relegation from the Premier League for Cremonese with 500 appearances and 200 goals under his belt for the club, and he was always going to leave big shoes to fill.

And this season has not been the fruitful one that Leicester fans may have hoped for following relegation. The Foxes' goalscoring record this season has been reasonable, but hardly stellar. 11 of the 24 teams in the division have scored between 35 and 48 goals from their 26 matches played so far, and Leicester have scored 37, a mid-table goalscoring record for a mid-table team.

The January transfer window offers an opportunity to make changes, and Leicester now seem likely to pull that trigger, with rumours that they could be about to seal the loan signature of the Birmingham City forward Lyndon Dykes. But Dykes' goalscoring record indicates that he's unlikely to be the Vardy replacement that Leicester fans crave.

Leicester City are "weighing up a late move" for Birmingham City's Lyndon Dykes

The Daily Mail has reported that Leicester City are "weighing up a late move" for the Birmingham City striker Lyndon Dykes, who was believed to be close to a loan move to Charlton Athletic for the remainder of the season.

They report that: "Leicester are desperate to add more firepower but are working under financial restrictions and may need to sell first. They had been hoping to sign free agent former West Ham forward Michail Antonio but that was ruled out after he picked up another injury in training."

The Scotland international has struggled to hold down a place in the Blues first team so far this season, and will be keen for more game-time in order to sew up his place in the Scotland squad for next summer's World Cup finals.

The Mail's reporting indicates that Leicester shouldn't have too much difficulty raising the funds to make any move happen. They state that the Foxes are prepared to offload Harry Winks and Wout Faes, with the latter now set to join Monaco.

Bournemouth, meanwhile, are considering Abdul Fatawu - though his exit this month would be a disaster at the King Power Stadium - and Monaco have also checked on Boubakary Soumare, while clubs have also been circling their academy stars Jeremy Monga and Lorenz Hutchinson."

Lyndon Dykes is an accomplished player, but he's never been a great scorer of goals

With almost 400 senior appearances under his belt and as well as 48 caps for the Scotland national team, there's no doubt that Lyndon Dykes is a highly experienced and accomplished player, but he's never really been that great a scorer of goals. Since signing for the Blues from Queens Park Rangers in 2024, he's made 46 appearances for the club in League One and the Championship, but has only scored three goals.

Now, there is an important caveat to be added to this. Dykes may have made 21 appearances for Birmingham City this season, but only two of those have been starts. Similarly, he made 25 appearances for the Blues in their record-breaking 2024-25 season, but of those, only nine were starts.

And there's a case to be made for saying that Dykes has never really been a great scorer of goals. Those 48 appearances in a Scotland shirt have only yielded ten goals, and prior to arriving at St Andrew's he was a Queens Park Rangers player, for whom he only scored 37 times in 165 appearances.

Finding a regular goalscorer could do wonders for the second half of the season, but the historical evidence suggests that Lyndon Dykes would be unlikely to become that player for Leicester City on a loan spell. One of their big issues this season has been that no-one has stepped into Jamie Vardy's shoes as a regular goalscorer for them, with only one player, Jordan James, having scored more than five for them in the League so far this season.

And no matter how disappointing their season might have been so far, Leicester do still have an opportunity. They may be down in 12th place in the table, but they're only four points shy of a play-off place, and few teams have been able to show much consistency in the division so far this season, meaning that the likelihood is that points will continue to be dropped above them.

But if regular goals is what Leicester City crave more than anything else, then there are question marks hanging over whether Lyndon Dykes is that player. With loan spaces limited - clubs are allowed five, and two of Leicester's berth are already filled by Jordan James and Aaron Ramsey - it's a tricky decision to have to make, and Dykes might leave some Foxes fans feeling a little underwhelmed.