The Leicester City winger is set to leave the club this summer, with Champions League-contesting Newcastle the frontrunners to sign him ahead of West Ham and Aston Villa

Harvey Barnes’ Leicester City exit, likely to Newcastle United but potentially still to another Premier League club if there is a late twist, exacerbates a problem they have long had.

For years, they have been short on wingers. So often they have filled a spot on the right or left with a player who’d much rather be in attacking midfield, or up front. In recent seasons, when Barnes has been injured, City

With City stocking up on centre-backs – Conor Coady is in and Callum Doyle is on his way, with Jonny Evans still in talks – and with very few rumours, never mind concrete interest, regarding wingers, it felt like Enzo Maresca would be opting for a system without wide-men. Then in the first pre-season match under the Italian this week, City lined up in a 4-3-3 shape.

The trio at the top of the pitch were not all operating centrally. They stretched themselves from flank to flank. The two either side of the central striker were definitely wingers.

chose a formation that dispensed with wingers altogether, such has been the absence of options.

Barnes watched the match against Peterborough from the touchline, chatting with fellow City academy graduate and current Posh defender Josh Knight. Taking his place on the left wing were Wanya Marcal-Madivadua in the first half and Tawanda Maswanhise in the second, two players who do not have a single senior league appearance between them.

On the right wing, Patson Daka, a striker by trade, played the first half there, while Kasey McAteer, who has not started a senior league match above League Two level, was in the team for the second period. Marc Albrighton, like Barnes, was being rested, and so there was a grand total of zero senior wingers in the squad

That is not to say the quartet who did operate out wide against Peterborough did badly. In fact, the three young players strengthened their cause for further first-team opportunities. But a team with desires of promotion, of being the best in the division, cannot go into a campaign where one of their positions is so clearly lacking in top-level options. It’s a glaring hole in the team.

Beyond Barnes, the best winger in the team is Ricardo Pereira. But given he has a special role to play with Maresca opting to have a Pep Guardiola-inspired inverted full-back position, he can’t be used there either.

Burnley have provided City with a blueprint for success. They were a recently-relegated Premier League team who chose a manager schooled at Man City under Guardiola and who came in with the idea of dominating possession. They became the first team since City a decade ago to break the 100-point barrier.

Under Vincent Kompany, the Clarets also played in a 4-3-3 shape, with wingers. Their wide-men were important too, with Nathan Tella, Manuel Benson, and Anass Zaroury finishing as their top three scorers. They had Johann Berg Gudmundsson chipping in too.

Those players are not high-profile names, but they did have senior experience. Burnley didn’t go into the Championship campaign with untested wingers.

Maresca knows that City will be the team others want to beat. They know City will dominate the ball and they will look to sit deep and counter-attack against them.

To get past that, City will need penetration and trickery from wide areas. They will need players who know how to find space in the box. They will need players to ensure the goalscoring duties don’t solely rest on Jamie Vardy’s shoulders.

So while the James Maddison money has so far been spent on strengthening other areas of the team, at centre-back and deeper in midfield, when the Barnes money comes in, it needs to go straight towards signing a direct replacement. Tuesday’s game showed that.

There is still a lack of creativity from the midfield, but City do at least have numbers there in the centre of the park. But having run so low on wingers for so long, the tank’s now close to being empty. Selling Barnes and buying someone to fill his number seven shirt is the priority between now and the start of the season.

Who do you want to see City out wide? Let us know in the comments section below.