Newcastle legend with brief spell at Leicester back in Europe as he surprisingly lands job as manager in Sweden

Former Leicester player Nobby Solano (48) is back in Europe. He has been appointed new head coach at Swedish club AFC Eskilstuna. Nobby joined Leicester in January 2010, playing 13 league games in the Championship.

 

This appointment is said to be a bit of a surprise, but Nobby Solano has been involved in management since 2012, and since 2017 been part of the Peru national team coaching staff and taking special care of the U.23’s.

He is a legend in his homeland Peru, in total 95 caps and 20 goals, moving to Newcastle from Boca Juniors in 1998 and becoming a pivotal player at St. James Park during two spells, and especially his first years cemented a reputation as an exciting midfielder of high Premier League standard.

In total 230 league appearances, scoring 37 goals for Newcastle while at St. James Park.

Delighted to announce i have joined @afceskilstuna as coach please give the club a follow on twitter

He also represented West Ham, Aston Villa, Hull and Hartlepool in his years as a professional in the English games. He had a 19 year career as a player, and has continued to work in football and it will be interesting to follow Nobby as he know takes his journey travel to Sweden and hopefully get success.

Callum Doyle becomes the third new face at the King Power Stadium this summer, but the club’s business is not even halfway done as they rebuild their squad for the Championship

The signing of Callum Doyle feels significant for Leicester City in that, as things stand, one section of their squad rebuild seems complete.

Such was the overhaul needed by City, every department of the squad required adjustments and additions. Now Doyle has arrived, the defence looks sorted.

With Conor Coady arriving this summer too, and with Harry Souttar and Wout Faes already in place, that’s four strong centre-backs at the club. And that’s before the potential return of Jonny Evans too.

At full-back, there’s Ricardo Pereira and James Justin for the right, and Victor Kristiansen and Luke Thomas for the left. As a general rule, a squad requires two players per position, so City now have that in their defence.

There are eight players there that should be trusted to start Championship matches. It looks like the defence of a side that can challenge for promotion.

That is without considering Timothy Castagne as an option either. The Belgian full-back, a sellable asset, remains on course for an exit this summer, albeit a potential move to Juventus appears to have slowed. The chatter from Italy is that Juve are still keen. In Belgium, the noise is that they’re having second thoughts.

Also heading for the exit will be Jannik Vestergaard, and it is understood there is interest from Europe in him. After trying to sell him for the past two windows, City should be successful this time.

But Doyle’s arrival does potentially lead to a dilemma. In the young loanee, Coady, Souttar, and Faes, City have four centre-backs who will all deem themselves good enough to be starting.

This may be the club preparing for Faes’ potential departure. A starter for a top-five ranked nation in the world may feel he needs to be playing top-flight football to keep his international spot. In the event that Faes leaves, City probably will need another centre-back, whether that is Evans or somebody else.

There is more work to do in the other departments of the squad, albeit City are close to getting the new goalkeeper they crave. Their attention appeared focused on Manchester City’s Zack Steffen, but now they are moving for Kasper Schmeichel’s Denmark understudy Mads Hermansen.

The Brondby goalkeeper, who will cost around £6m, has been likened to Ederson for the way he uses his feet, and that fits the profile of the goalkeeper City were looking for. His arrival would mean that one of Daniel Iversen or Danny Ward would be likely to leave.

In midfield, there is more work to be done, with another two signings required to build a strong group. Harry Winks and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall are likely to be starters this season, while Hamza Choudhury and Boubakary Soumare could stake a claim for a spot too. But Dennis Praet is almost certain to be sold, especially with only one year left on his deal, while a decision will be needed on Wilfred Ndidi. He only has 12 months left on his contract and City will be reluctant to lose him for nothing.

If City are to bring in two new midfielders, at least one needs to have a similar profile to James Maddison. There is a clear gap in the City squad for an attacking midfielder that someone like QPR’s Ilias Chair could fill, the Moroccan linked to the club at the start of the window.

Even more work is required in the forward line. Harvey Barnes is leaving, with Newcastle the current front-runners, and that would make City even shorter on options out wide, where they only have Marc Albrighton. They will need at least two new signings there.

The interest in Swansea’s Joel Piroe is intriguing. He has played mostly as a central striker, but can operate out wide, and that is where there is a greater need for him at City at the moment.

Because up front, City do have three very good options. But, as with Ndidi, City must make a decision of some sort on Kelechi Iheanacho, who is now into the final year of his deal. A sale or a new contract are the most sensible options, but the club could take a gamble on him, keeping him for another year, hoping that he gets them promoted and then pens fresh terms, but also risking him departing for nothing.

 

With Jamie Vardy and Patson Daka also in the squad, it doesn’t feel like Enzo Maresca can accommodate all three. That is unless Daka is going to be converted into a winger, which was where he played in City’s opening pre-season game.

So there is still plenty to do. Doyle is the club’s third new recruit but they’re not even halfway through the business they need to do this summer, with at least five more signings required.