When Leicester City confirmed the signing of Oliver Skipp from Tottenham Hotspur, eyebrows were raised.
With the Foxes desperately needing an attacker, the club had splashed a reported £20 million on a defensive midfielder. Leicester already had the likes of Harry Winks, Wilfred Ndidi, Boubakary Soumare, and Hamza Choudhury–prompting fans to question whether the club needed another defensive midfielder. Former Spurs striker Darren Bent called the 23-year-old the ‘worst signing’ of the summer.
However, with Leicester struggling to keep the ball in their opening Premier League game against Tottenham, it was clear that the team needed more players who could play through the press. Harry Winks is a press-resistant player and is the outlet for the Foxes backline. However, the opposition knew this and marked the midfielder tightly throughout the game. Steve Cooper had identified that the team needed more deep players capable of playing through the press and recommended the signing of Skipp.
Oliver Skipp has proved to be a good signing for Leicester City
In his short stint at Leicester, Skipp has proved to be an important member of the starting eleven. The midfielder has made seven appearances for the Foxes and, barring one bad performance against Arsenal, has been impressive. Skipp is a combative midfielder who works extremely hard out of possession.
He has chipped in with 11 blocks and tackles and has won 83.3% of his aerial duels. Additionally, the 23-year-old is composed on the ball and boasts a passing accuracy of over 85% this season. Skipp also sometimes goes on long runs with the ball, with his sudden directness causing the opposition off guard. Skipp has been more aggressive in carrying the ball forward this season. In just five league appearances for Leicester, the midfielder has already covered 221 meters. Last season, he carried the ball 365 meters in 21 appearances.
With the Foxes winless in six league games. Cooper boldly decided to drop Winks against Bournemouth, opting to start Ndidi and Skipp in a pivot. Although they lacked Winks’s passing range, the duo was more defensively solid. Ndidi and Skipps’ off-the-ball contributions were crucial in Leicester’s first win of the season.