It’s a gamble’ – Carlton Palmer reacts as Leicester City seal multi-million pound transfer
Tom Cannon joined Leicester City on deadline day in a £7million move
Tom Cannon’s move to Leicester City for £7 million is seen as a gamble by Carlton Palmer, despite the potential upset it may have caused in the Championship.
The 20-year-old striker impressed with eight goals and assists during his loan spell at Preston, but faces tough competition for playing time at Leicester.
If Cannon had joined Leicester under different circumstances, such as the departure of other strikers, he may have had a more prominent role. However, he can learn from experienced attackers like Jamie Vardy.
Tom Cannon’s move to Leicester City will undoubtedly have left some people in the second-tier disappointed – but it’s a move that certainly brings about intrigue across the board.
The youngster, who joined Everton’s academy as a 10-year-old, went on to become a sporadic first-team option at Goodison Park under Frank Lampard and Sean Dyche in his spell on Merseyside, but that led him to join Preston in the January transfer window.
Eight goals in just 20 second-tier appearances at Deepdale saw him become one of the division’s breakout stars, and with the Toffees signing Beto and Yousseff Chermiti in the summer, he was relegated to fourth-choice striker, with Leicester offering him an exit route for £7million. But with game time equally tough at the King Power Stadium, Carlton Palmer has labelled the move a ‘gamble’ in news that could unsettle Foxes fans.
What has Carlton Palmer said about Tom Cannon’s move to Leicester City?
Cannon’s move will have upset other clubs in the Championship as they vyed for his signature – but Palmer still thinks the move was a gamble despite Leicester robbing him from potential rivals. Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Palmer gave his thoughts on the transfer.
He said: “Tom Cannon has signed for Leicester City from Everton for a fee which is undisclosed, but it’s believed to be in and around the £7m mark.
The question will be ‘should Leicester get promoted and how will he fare in the Premier League?’. I suppose it’s a gamble, but a gamble that Leicester are willing to take.”
Will Tom Cannon play for Leicester City this season?
Had Cannon joined the club with Kelechi Iheanacho and Patson Daka departing, he would evidently have played much more of a key role at the King Power Stadium for the upcoming season.
However, Daka’s failed loan-to-buy moves to Burnley and Bournemouth have seen the Zambian remain in the east Midlands after an 11th-hour collapse, and whilst Iheanacho’s move away from the club seemed less likely, links to Wolves and Crystal Palace never materialised despite intense speculation, which has seen the Nigerian remain under Enzo Maresca’s control also.
As a result, it pushes Cannon further down the pecking order. Jamie Vardy also being at the club means that, on paper, he is a fourth-choice striker, though in the second-tier you could hardly choose to learn from a better trio of attackers who have all played on the European stage and been stars for their nations at some point or another.
It’s almost guaranteed that Cannon would’ve had first-team minutes at Preston had the Lancashire club agreed a loan deal for his services, so his development could be stunted somewhat.
However, at £7m and likely to play the same amount of minutes as Daka and Vardy with Iheanacho as the first-choice striker at the King Power, it could be a stroke of genius from the young Liverpudlian to join a club that might well return to the top-flight at the first attempt.
