Before the international break, Leicester City won their first game of the Premier League season.
Steve Cooper’s team won 1-0 against Bournemouth courtesy of a fantastic strike from Facundo Buonanotte, giving them their first three points of the year.
With six points, Leicester is presently three points ahead of Crystal Palace, who hold the final relegation slot in the Premier League standings.
Although Leicester’s season hasn’t started off well—fans have been demanding for Cooper to be fired—that victory over the Cherries might serve as a springboard for more wins—Southampton, Nottingham Forest, and Ipswich Town are the team’s upcoming opponents.
Cooper’s team has scored nine goals in seven games so far this season, but Jamie Vardy is the sole striker with two goals; if they had only bought one player in 2022, things might have turned out quite differently.
Lois Openda was a desired signing for Leicester City in 2022.
Two seasons ago, Leicester looked for a new striker in an effort to keep their Premier League position.
This brought Belgian sniper Lois Openda, who was scoring goals at RC Lens for fun, to their notice.
According to Leicestershire Live, the Foxes first expressed interest in Openda in September 2022. Negotiations for a contract are expected to begin in January.
But as Leicester were fighting for their lives, a deal never materialised because by the time the winter window rolled around, the incredible striker was flying in France.
Openda finished the 2022–2023 season in Ligue 1 with an outstanding 21 goals. Conversely, Leicester was demoted to the Championship, and Kelechi Iheanacho led the team in goals scored in the league with five.
RB Leipzig eventually bought the gifted forward for £36 million in the summer of 2023, despite reports at the time suggesting that £26 million would have been sufficient to entice him out of France.
What Lois Openda is currently worth
Openda’s incredible finishing has reached new heights since joining the Bundesliga team, and he has developed into one of the most “exciting” strikers in European football.
With 24 goals in the previous season, the 24-year-old only trailed Harry Kane and Serhou Guirassy in the Bundesliga top scoring rankings.
Following a flurry of high-level attention in the summer, the talented Belgian has subsequently maintained that rich vein of form into 2024–2025 with four in six appearances.
According to the Mirror, Manchester United, Tottenham, and Chelsea are all considering approaches for the striker, whose estimated value is £75 million.
Leipzig might, however, be able to hold out for something like £100 million if they were open to receiving offers for the outstanding striker.
It’s a matter of what could have been for Leicester because Openda could have kept them out of the relegation zone in 2022–2023 and made them a sizable profit later on.
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