Europa League line-up confirmed
Leicester City will be in Pot 2 for the Europa League draw following results in play-off round on Thursday night.
City will discover their three group-stage opponents at 12pm on Friday as they compete in Europe for only the fifth season in their history.
And following a handful of upsets in the final round of qualifying – with Sporting Lisbon, Wolfsburg, Basel and FC Copenhagen all eliminated – City have been bumped up to Pot 2, which theoretically gives them an easier group.
Those surprise results also pushed Celtic into Pot 1, meaning there could be a Brendan Rodgers derby on the horizon.
A full list of clubs and the Pots they will be can be found here.
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Barnes earns senior England call-up
Leicester City winger Harvey Barnes has received his maiden senior England call-up.
The homegrown star has been rewarded for his excellent form in 2020 with inclusion in Gareth Southgate’s squad for this month’s triple-header, a friendly against Wales and Nations League games against Belgium and Denmark.
Since the turn of the year, Barnes has registered seven goals and five assists across 25 games in all competitions, last season finishing as the second highest English player in the assist charts, behind only Trent Alexander-Arnold.
He opened his account for City this season in the 4-2 win over Burnley, and will now link up with former City team-mates Ben Chilwell and Harry Maguire in the 30-man Three Lions’ squad, where his competitors for a place out wide include Jadon Sancho, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford, Jack Grealish, and fellow potential debutant Bukayo Saka.
Explaining Barnes’ call-up, Southgate said: “Harvey has had a good couple of years. He is a different sort of attacking wide player, very direct.
Read more here, on the City team-mates Barnes could face on his debut.
Fofana ‘passes medical’ as Benkovic with swap
Wesley Fofana is edging closer to a move to Leicester City in what could turn out to be a swap deal.
The Saint-Etienne centre-back has, according to RMC Sport in France, passed his medical with City, which was undertaken on Wednesday in Germany, similarly to Timothy Castagne.
But the deal for Fofana, which is believed to worth £36.5m, may not be the end of City’s business with the French side.
RMC Sport also report that Filip Benkovic has been offered to Saint-Etienne on a loan deal with an option to buy.
Claude Puel’s side are now on the hunt for a centre-half to replace Fofana, and Benkovic, who was signed by City when Puel was in charge, is expected to leave on loan this summer with the club having strengthened their defensive options.
Read more here.
(Image: Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)
Shearer praises Mendy
He’s been one of the underrated stars of Leicester City’s campaign so far, but midfielder Papy Mendy has come into praise from former England captain Alan Shearer.
The Frenchman has played 90 minutes in each of the three Premier League wins so far, doing a splendid job in the midfield alongside Youri Tielemans, and lessening the blow of Wilfred Ndidi’s groin injury.
Mendy was not even expected to be a City player this season, but when the pandemic affected finances, the club performed an about-turn, offering the midfielder a new deal.
And he is proving what a smart piece of business that is, not least in the 5-2 win over Manchester City at the weekend.
Shearer said: “It is quite a feat to run the midfield against Kevin De Bruyne and co, but he did just that. He disrupted Manchester City’s rhythm and launched counter-attack after counter-attack.”
Click here to read more of Shearer’s thoughts on City.
