Newly crowned Premier League champions Leicester City is already thinking about defending its title next year and is reportedly interested in signing an up and coming Italian star this offseason. If they succeed, it should help increase their online soccer odds of repeating next season.
According to reports, team manager Claudio Ranieri is back in Italy and currently raiding the Serie B looking for talent that can help his club. One player that has caught his eye in particular is Gianluca Lapadula, who plays for Pescara.
Lapadula has been a scoring machine in the Serie B, and had 24 goals for his club this season. As expected, a prolific scorer like that can’t go unnoticed and Leicester City will have some competition when it comes to prying him away from his club.
One of the top competitors for Lapadula’s services is Serie A champions Juventus. Right now, most reports indicate that Lapadula is interested in joining the English club and competing for the Premier League title as well as the Champions League, but Juventus is as big as they come in Italy, they have more money to spend on Lapadula than Leicester City does, and they will also be in the Champions League next season, making them a very attractive place for the 26-year-old striker to play.
While Ranieri is trying to recruit Lapadula, there are a lot of concerns about his club in England. If the rumors are to be believed, some of the players that helped the club get to the title last season might be on their way out.
Leading scorer Jamie Vardy, as well as N’Golo Kante and Riyad Mahrez are reportedly going to sign with other teams in the offseason, which will make it impossible for the champions to successfully defend their title.
While Vardy has publicly said he loves playing for Leicester City, a big contract has been known to change the minds of some athletes so Leicester fans have to take a wait and see approach to the situation.
After another disappointing season, which did not include any silverware, Arsenal is once again trying to improve their roster so they can challenge for the Premier League title next year.
According to reports, Arsene Wenger has his sights set on Borussia Dortmund’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who will the replacement for Alexis Sanchez, who is expected to leave the team if they can’t agree on a new contract.
The reports also said that the team was interested in signing Alvaro Morata from Juventus, but it seems more likely that Mkhitaryan is their man.
Last season, Mkhitaryan scored 18 goals and had 20 assists for Dortmund, which is the type of production Wenger’s team has been lacking for a while. Even if the Gunners sign Sanchez, Mkhitaryan could be used as a replacement for Theo Walcott, who is expected to join West Ham this offseason.
Manchester United is also expected to make big moves this offseason but they are hoping to qualify for the Champions League first, which should make coming to Old Trafford more appealing. The biggest name on their radar is Barcelona star Neymar, who is reportedly interested in leaving the Spanish champions.
