Brendan Rodgers drops hint over Leicester City transfer business and riskier deals

Recruiting from overseas is riskier than signing players from Premier League rivals, Brendan Rodgers has said in a potential hint to Leicester City’s summer business.

A busy transfer window is expected at the King Power Stadium in the off-season with Rodgers having already outlined his hopes for a “healthy shake-up”. He has suggested there could be five or six new arrivals, with the same number heading for the exit.

City’s recruitment team are already in the process of scouting players for the club to potentially sign in the summer, and when watching those playing abroad, they may need to be more diligent with their research. Rodgers knows there are top players in Europe that possess the “competitive edge” he wants to add to his squad, but he says that does not always translate to the Premier League.

And so, signing from fellow Premier League clubs may limit that risk for City in the transfer market. Last summer, three of City's summer signings – Jannik Vestergaard, Ryan Bertrand, and Ademola Lookman – had Premier League experience, while the other two – Patson Daka and Boubakary Soumare – had not.

“Sometimes the nature of the Premier League, even if players do have that competitive edge, the physicality might catch them out,” he said. “The Premier League is such an intense league.

“There’s a real urgency about the Premier League, and that’s why you see lots of really, really good players who have come into the league – and you know their talents because you’ve seen them in Europe – they just don’t quite do it here. And then they go back into European football, where the edge comes off it a little bit, where it’s not quite the intensity, and they look fantastic players.

“That’s happened throughout the Premier League,