Leicester stars among best promoted Premier League players | OneFootball

For Ruud van Nistelrooy, his 'ruud' awakening with Leicester City has been tragic. From an initial boom, injuries, poor results, and a lack of adaptation turned to poor performances on the pitch, and instability off the pitch. It is unsurprising the Foxes struggled in the winter transfer market, and I expect the summer window to be equally frustrating.

Firstly, we already expect plenty of players to leave. There is a certain requirement to refresh the soon-to-be Championship side as well as reduce the glutton-level wage bill which has plagued the East Midland's outfit for some time. Unfortunately, this does mean letting go of strong talent. That being said, we should not let a core of exciting talents leave if possible.

Leicester City player amongst the best promoted

TFA's experts researched the promoted club's talents to identify those most likely to be of interest to Premier League clubs after all three are probably relegated. For the King Power side, it is unsurprising they focused in on shot-stopper Mads Hermansen. The Danish goalkeeper being perhaps the only reason the Foxes do not sit rock-bottom.

Under either Steve Cooper or the Dutchman, Hermansen has portrayed the same qualities, and undertaken the same broad role within his position. The consistency in his style and quality performances make him a standout talent in an otherwise dejected team.

Stylistically, Hermansen has done a superb job of complimenting either styles of football. Under Cooper, the priority seemed to be slow build-up at the back before launching an attack into space on the wings. This was not unsuccessful, but it was utterly boring to watch. The Dane was incessantly involved in passing the ball sideways to aid in retention, but would often be the long-ball specialist with responsibility for breaking the press and lauching the ball into wing-space.

Under Nistelrooy, the role remained largely similar. The alteration came with increased defensive involvement in coming out of the box, intercepting passes or making clearances, and sometimes just to do a quick pass to Conor Coady or Jannik Vestergaard. The result would often depend on how much pressure the goalkeeper was under at the time.

In terms of actual goalkeeping ability, Hermansen has portrayed two core capabilities for the Foxes: positioning and reflexes. Leicester City are under pressure a lot, and the sheer quantity of shots the star player has faced is ridiculous. With 84 saves in the Premier League and 47 goals conceded that is 131 shots on target the Danish shotstopper has faced. Of course, some of those will be lame shots and nothing to talk about, while others will be vital saves.

Looking at the quality of the shots faced by Hermansen, and the positioning the Dane has in the net, combined with reflexive actions and strong wrists to make saves, we end up with 0.36 post-shot expected goals per on target shot (within the 97th percentile of all top five European leagues). This means Leicester's real No.1 makes shots worse by getting into good positions and giving himself the best chance to make the save. Combine that with those reflexes and you can understand the strength of Hermansen.

Can Leicester City keep Mads Hermansen

The quality on display from the King Power's main shotstopper makes the situation difficult to predict. On the one hand, Nistelrooy's team know the player has plenty of time left on their contract, and will want a strong goalkeeper for their Championship promotion campaign. On the other, Hermansen is within his prime, wanted, displaying immense talent, and fits perfectly into the modern role: this would be the best moment to make a lot of money from the sale.

Leicester City will need money. They will need space. They will need to make some tough choices. If the Foxes really want to keep Mads Hermansen, they could. However, I do not think that is either necessary or realistic from a financial perspective. For example, Jakub Stolarczyk - over his short time in the net during the Danish international's absence - gained 0.38 in PSxG/SoT and was within the 99th percentile of goalkeepers for this aspect. The Pole also made 17 EPL saves, conceding 12 (29) across six games.

I think it is prudent to understand what that means. Per game, Stolarczyk did face 4.81shots on target regardless of their quality, where Hermansen has faced 5.95. The Dane has suffered worse, but the Polish goalkeeper made a better job of those that he did face. In this context, with Hermansen in his prime, and Stolarczyk a ready-made replacement, Leicester City ought to sell the Dane in the summer.