Leicester City in this transfer market are having a shuffle at their full back positions. They have witnessed the transfer of Ben Chilwell to fellow Premier League club, Chelsea, for a reported fee in the range of £50 million. This could be a huge setback for the fans as they let their academy graduate and their starting left back, who has been a crucial part of recent success, leave the club after four years since his promotion to the senior team. But a cheer to the fans comes with the arrival of Belgian full back Timothy Castagne for a reported fee of £22 million.
Castagne moves to join the Foxes from Italian club, Atlanta. He is known for his versatile game as he could be deployed on either side of the back 4. His versatility of his could help Brendan Rodgers to deploy him either to fill in at the left back position which is vacant after departure of Ben Chilwell or as a right back in absence of currently injured Ricardo Pereira. Timothy Castagne, currently 24, has 8 appearances for Belgium and has been a part of famous Genk side which had players like Kevin De Bruyne and Thibaut Courtois pass through the club’s ranks.
Comparisons to Ben Chilwell
Ben Chilwell, a well proven English fullback, is known for his positioning and runs in the attacking third along with some good defensive strength. Comparing Timothy to Ben, Timothy is not as fruitful as Ben when moving forward but he edges him in the defensive aspect. He has a tackle ratio of 64.5% and also an impressive 0.25 blocks per 90 minutes proving his defensive strength. He might not edge Chilwell in attacking front but he still has some impressive attacking stats including 0.92 shots per 90 and 2.45 touches in opposition box per 90. Also he is more physically active in the game and can hold up the opposition wingers with his strength.
Brendan often loves to play a 4-1-4-1 where his fullbacks end up being apparent wingers to cross the ball when attacking. This could be perfect play for Castagne who has an impressive pass accuracy of 89.8%. Also Rodgers has been seen using a 3-4-1-2 with effective wingbacks, position where Timothy has experience to play in.
Timothy has already registered 3 goal contributions in 3 appearances in the Premier League and has been defensively clinical for the Foxes helping them to get 9 points from their first 3 games. Moving forward, Castagne will be looking to register his name in the Premier League and not letting fans feel the void left by Chilwell’s departure.
