Angers' French midfielder Baptiste Santamaria (left) fights for the ball with Monaco's Russian midfielder Aleksandr Golovin (right) during the Ligue One match between both sides at the Raymond Kopa Stadium in Angers on December 14, 2019. (Getty Images)
According to Leicestershire Live, Leicester City have been linked with a move for Angers midfielder Baptiste Santamaria.
Touted as the next N’Golo Kante, Santamaria has been earning rave reviews with his consistent displays in defensive midfield for the French outfit.
Santamaria has been a regular presence in front of the Angers defence in the last four. One of the key members in the current Angers line-up, Santamaria has established himself as one of the first-names in the teamsheet since arriving from French fifth division side Tours back in 2016.
He has been impressive this season too, featuring in Angers’ all 28 league matches so far. Meanwhile, Santamaria’s journey has been similar to Kante, who arrived at the King Power stadium from Caen in 2015.
The 25-year-old Santamaria was also an unknown name until he arrived at Angers, helping them to tenth place in the league – the side’s best finish in their last four seasons. To date, the deep-lying midfielder has made over 134 appearances for the Ligue 1 side and has two goals and one assist to his name, signifying his worth in Stephane Moulin’s side.
Santamaria’s arrival is sure to give Leicester’s first-choice defensive midfielder Wilfred Ndidi a tight competition in the middle for a starting spot. Like Santamaria, Ndidi has also had a splendid campaign, with him establishing himself as a regular in Brendan Rodgers’ side.
He has been rock-solid with his defensive abilities in the middle that has seen Leicester concede just 28 goals this season. The Nigerian has acted as a shield in front of the Leicester defence helping them climb to an impressive third place in the league.
Despite establishing himself as a Foxes regular since his move to England in January 2017, Ndidi is still young and has plenty of time to develop further. Leicester have three more defensive midfielders, however, two of them – Daniel Amartey and Nampalys Mendy, have fallen out of favour and are way down the pecking order.
The remaining one – Hamza Choudhury is still very young and lacks experience. Considering this, Foxes’ search of Santamaria ahead of next season makes perfect sense.
Roping in someone as consistent as Santamaria will only add more strength to Leicester’s squad if they wish to continue at the top-level next season too. Moreover, Santamaria, with his vast experience playing at the highest level, could offer Rodgers plenty of options to choose in the middle. Hence, the Foxes must not miss out on signing him.
