Leicester City ramped up their recruitment this week, with Atalanta centre-back Yohan Benalouane joining fellow new arrival N’Golo Kante at the King Power Stadium. The Tunisian defender is one week behind the rest of the Foxes’ squad in terms of pre-season preparation – due to Serie A’s later start – but is still optimistic of being selected for Sunderland’s visit in Gameweek 1:
”I hope I can do my best and use my experience in Italy. In Italy it’s more tactical. If I give power and tactics to this team, I think I’ll give something important. I like to play with the ball and control my defence. I’m a player with power and I have technical quality. I’ll do my best this week in training. In Italy the season starts later. I worked hard while I was on holiday and also in training, so I hope I come to the first match as a possibility. I spoke with Claudio Ranieri. I’m very happy to work with him. For me and for everyone, he is a very big manager. He told me it’s different to Italy because it’s very high-impact. Now, I hope that I can have a great season.”
The History
Born in southern France, Benalouane began his football education at two local amateur clubs, before enrolling with Saints-Etienne’s youth academy in 2001. After making his senior debut for the club in 2007, Benalouane went on to record a further 64 appearances in three terms with the Ligue 1 club.
After moving to newly-promoted outfit Serie A team Cesena, Benalouane clocked just 721 minutes in his debut campaign. He fared a little better in the 2012/13 season on loan to Parma, notching one goal in 15 starts while being tasked with a variety of roles across the back line. Parma subsequently tied Benalouane down to a permanent deal in the summer of 2013.
Having chalked up just two starts in the first half of the 2013/14 campaign, Benalouane penned a temporary deal with Atalanta in January 2014. The Lombardy club granted the former France U21 international a long-awaited regular starting berth, with Benalouane missing just four league ties through suspension. With the move made permanent last summer, he registered one goal in 27 appearances during the previous campaign.
The Prospects
The versatile Benalouane was stationed at right-back for six of his 27 appearances last term, while he operated as a right-back for the majority of the 2013/14 season. He’s also been fielded at left-back on occasion throughout his career but his natural role is in the heart of defence.
Considering that Ranieri employed a three-man defence in four of Leicester’s five warm-up ties, it’s logical to predict that a trio of centre-back berths will be up for grabs at least in the early stages. That extra slot enhances Benalouane’s chances of starting and, although we can expect Robert Huth and skipper Wes Morgan to nail down regular roles, the new boy will be hoping to edge ahead of Marcin Wasilewski and Liam Moore for the final spot.
Priced in line with Huth, Morgan and Wasilewski at 4.5, Benalouane will struggle to pique Fantasy managers’ interest. A paucity of goal threat (one goal since 2010) and assist potential (two key passes last season) is compounded by an atrocious disciplinary record: Benalouane averages a yellow card every 2.94 matches across his whole career. To put that into perspective, Sunderland’s Lee Cattermole averages a yellow card every 3.04 matches.
Only QPR, Newcastle United and Aston Villa were breached on more occasions than Leicester (55) last season, yet five clean sheets in their concluding seven fixtures revealed a clear capacity to improve on that figure this term – all the more so given that Ranieri has decided to continue with Nigel Pearson’s 3-4-1-2 formation.
Huth and Morgan are sure to invite investment by virtue of their aerial dominance – from the point of the German’s arrival in Gameweek 25 last year, they were first and second amongst defenders for attempts inside the box. Jeffrey Schlupp or Christian Fuchs could justify their 5.0 price tag if either can nail down the left wing-back berth – Schlupp, after all, sat second only to Branislav Ivanovic for goal attempts amongst defenders last year. Meanwhile, the changes to the BPS scoring also heightens Kasper Schmeichel’s appeal, with the Dane’s save point potential affording us a solid option between the posts at 4.5.
Leicester’s excellent opening batch of fixtures (SUN, wha, TOT, bou, AVL, sto) certainly increases the allure of their defensive assets, particularly when relegated Burnley were the only side to score fewer goals than Sunderland and Aston Villa (both 31) last term. Benalouane looks unlikely to find his way in many managers’ plans, then, though there’s no doubt that the Foxes have some eye-catching alternatives for Fantasy managers to call upon instead.
