Leicester

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Former Leicester City academy graduate Ian Baraclough says signing Jordan Ayew from Crystal Palace would bring much needed experience to the Foxes' squad.

Leicester are closing in a deal for the 32-year-old Ghana forward, who has made 195 top-flight appearances for Palace, scoring 22 goals.

"I think Steve Cooper wants bodies and if he can get bodies who have Premier League experience then I think that will benefit the group at this moment in time," Baraclough told BBC Radio Leicester's When You're Smiling podcast.

"Certain senior players within the club are fantastic and they are going to be vital throughout the season but I'm not sure there is enough there at the moment that can keep the club out of the bottom three.

"I know that sounds harsh this early in the season but I think he definitely needs to add players with that Premier League experience and Jordan Ayew fits that bill.

"Now, has he been the number one target for Leicester? I don't know. When you go into a transfer window it's forever changing, you're spinning plates. You've got a first, second, third and fourth target and you're competing against other teams as well.

"We don't know how much money Leicester would have been able to spend as well, which would put a lot of players out of the equation.

"To get someone like him for £5m might just fit the bill in all areas in that respect.

"It probably won't be to Leicester fans an exciting signing but he's someone who knows his way around the Premier League and this may be the pond Leicester are fishing in. We have to come to terms with that.

"You're not going to be able to get the profile of striker the manager thinks the team needs because prices are escalating now to ridiculous numbers. That's probably not something we can do at the moment especially with something hanging over us."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Leicester are close to signing Crystal Palace forward Jordan Ayew for an initial £5m.

The Foxes want to bring in at least two offensive players and Ayew, 32, is poised to move to the King Power Stadium in a deal rising to £8m.

Promoted Leicester struggled for attacking options in Monday's 1-1 Premier League draw with Tottenham, with Jamie Vardy starting - and scoring the equaliser - despite boss Steve Cooper ruling him out through injury just three days before.

Cooper, who takes Leicester to Fulham on Saturday, has made no secret of his desire to add more forward options to his squad and Ayew offers crucial Premier League experience.

He has made 212 appearances for Palace, scoring 23 goals, since initially joining on loan from Swansea in 2018. Ayew was a second-half substitute in Palace's 2-1 defeat at Brentford on Sunday.

He previously played for Aston Villa, joining them in 2015, before moving to Swansea two years later.

Ayew will join Oliver Skipp as a new signing at the King Power Stadium, with the midfielder arriving from Tottenham for £20m on Monday.

On the latest episode of the When You're Smiling podcast, Ian Baraclough and Charlie Carmichael join Owynn Palmer-Atkin to preview Leicester's trip to Fulham on Saturday.

Listen now on BBC Sounds

Leicester City are closing in on a deal for Crystal Palace's 32-year-old Ghana forward Jordan Ayew. (Sky Sports, external)

Two more attacking midfielders are also on Foxes boss Steve Cooper's list of targets before the window closes. (Telegraph - subscription required, external)

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column

Leicester City boss Steve Cooper has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Fulham (kick-off 15:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Cooper said new signing Oliver Skipp is available to face Fulham and added: "He is a good young player, he has plenty of games under his belt in the Premier League. We have nice variety and balance of midfield options... I believe Skippy offers a calming influence in midfield and we look forward to introducing him into the system."

• On keeping striker Jamie Vardy fit: "Jamie doesn't need any special words from me on capabilities and impact he can have and talent he has around the box. Keeping him fresh for games is going to be important. He is an older player now with his age; as they get older they understand their bodies well and know what is needed to prepare for games. It is important we work with him collaboratively to get him ready for games."

• On players they are being linked with: "Everybody. We are being linked with everybody. But, no names to mention. We want to strengthen the squad. We want to keep a lot [of momentum] going from last year and part of that is adding and strengthening and we will look to do that with a week to go."

• Adding to their forward line is "definitely" an area Leicester want to strengthen but it "might not be done in this window, but one we will look at".

• Cooper said "there were a lot of learnings" from the draw with Tottenham, adding: "There were players making Premier League debuts and club debuts and all of that can show. We needed to be a lot braver in the second half, and that's on all of us, but we played with ambition and intent in the second half."

• On facing Fulham: "They're always a well set-up team with a clear way of playing and we're going up against a team that have, mostly, been together for a while so we will be aware of that. But we are mostly focusing on ourselves and establishing ourselves back in the Premier League."

Follow all of Thursday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

We asked you which thing at Leicester hasn't been spoken about enough this week.

Here are some of your comments:

Les: I thought that when Tom Cannon was brought in he was the adequate replacement for Vardy, there has been no mention of him in pre-season, although he was on the bench for the Spurs game, is this another bad buy for City?

Dave: None of the people, including the professional pundits on "When You're Smiling", have truly accepted and admitted how wrong they were about Jannik Vestergaard. He is a class player and has proved them, Brendan Rodgers and a load of Foxes fans so wrong.

Jacob: I don't think anyone is talking about just how good Stephy Mavididi is.

Mike: Steve Cooper's management style is ideal for Leicester. He will quickly win over the fans if he continues to inspire a second half like we had against Spurs on Monday. It looks like we are getting back to the "Foxes never quit" mentality which served us so well under Martin O'Neill and John Robertson.

Steve: As much as I love Vardy, he can't play every minute of every game. And we still haven't got a striker in. Cooper is saying we need more attacking options but we don't seem to be able to get anything over the line. That's what we should be talking about.

There is always so much noise at the start of the season and 2024-25 has been no different.

But when it comes to Leicester City, what is the one thing nobody is talking about - good or bad?

Tell us here, external