Leicester City’s January Striker Targets: Updates from Their New Clubs

Leicester City left January without adding a striker. They made four deadline-day signings, but none addressed their main attacking need.

Deadline signings and the striker gap

City strengthened four positions on transfer deadline day. The arrivals were a centre-back, a box-to-box midfielder, an attacking midfielder and a right-sided winger.

That left the squad short of a goalscorer. The need became clearer when Julian Carranza’s loan was cut short.

Michail Antonio: move to Qatar

Michail Antonio trained with Leicester from December as a free agent. An injury in early January ended talks and City withdrew from the deal.

Antonio later trained with Charlton but did not sign. He joined Qatari side Al-Sailiya on a two-month contract at the start of March.

Those appearances marked his first senior club matches in about 15 months. He has played twice for Al-Sailiya, logging just over 70 minutes in each match without scoring.

Ibrahim Diabate: loan to Alaves

Ivorian forward Ibrahim Diabate was another January striker target linked to Leicester. He finished as joint-top scorer in Sweden in 2025 while at GAIS.

Reports from Sweden claimed Leicester had agreed terms, with Marti Cifuentes to make the final call. The manager raised concerns about signing from a summer-season league, noting Diabate had been inactive for two months.

No move to Leicester materialised. Diabate instead joined La Liga side Alaves on loan.

Quique Sanchez Flores took charge at Alaves earlier this month. He praised Diabate after five training sessions, calling him fast and powerful.

After four matches as an unused substitute, Diabate made his debut this weekend. He came on at half-time with Alaves 3-1 down to Celta Vigo and helped the side recover to a 4-3 win.

Implications for the season

Leicester City’s January striker targets have since moved to new clubs. These updates highlight missed opportunities for the club.

With Jordan Ayew and Patson Daka struggling for goals, fans remain concerned. The January decisions will shape Leicester’s attacking options going forward.

• Antonio: trained with Leicester, joined Al-Sailiya in Qatar on a short deal.
• Diabate: joint-top scorer in Sweden 2025, loaned to Alaves in La Liga.
• Leicester: completed four deadline-day signings but no striker arrived.

For more coverage and follow-ups on these developments, visit Filmogaz.com.