Leicester City finalised three fresh acquisitions on transfer deadline day, but they had to wait until after the window shut to address one remaining gap in their squad.
Relegation from the Premier League at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season has affected Leicester significantly. They lost a considerable amount of talent and experience over the summer, while the threat of a points deduction still looms over the club, with no clear indication of when it might be confirmed.
Despite these challenges, new manager Marti Cifuentes has made a promising start at The King Power Stadium, with Leicester winning three of their opening four League fixtures this season.
However, it was a signing made after the transfer window closed that allowed them to complete the final piece of their puzzle and inject some much-needed competition into their crucial goalkeeping position.
Fran Vieites’ arrival at Leicester City came as a shock:
The addition of Fran Vieites to Leicester was somewhat unexpected. The 26-year-old had his contract with Spanish side Real Betis terminated over the summer following Pau Lopez’s arrival, having spent the previous two years as a backup goalkeeper.
He has now joined The King Power Stadium to provide competition for the club’s other two goalkeepers, Jakub Stolarczyk and Asmir Begovic, following the sale of Mads Hermansen to West Ham United for £20 million in August.
Leicester had been linked with several goalkeepers on deadline day – Anton Saletros of AIK, Eric Smith of St Pauli, Amine Chabane of Amiens, and Moussa Sylla of Schalke 04 – but none of these moves materialised, forcing the club to explore the free agent market for an option available outside the normal transfer window rules.
Fran Vieites struggled for opportunities at Real Betis:
Francisco Vieites may have had his contract ended by mutual agreement during the summer, but he is accustomed to being around bigger clubs, having previously spent time with the ‘B’ squads at both Celta Vigo and Real Betis.
He was promoted from Betis’ ‘B’ team into their first-team squad at the start of the 2023-24 season and made eight League appearances across those two seasons.
During 2024-25, he featured in more than four League matches. Vieites was in goal for eight fixtures in their Europa Conference League campaign before being replaced by first-choice goalkeeper Adrian for the latter stages.
Betis lost 4-1 to Chelsea in the final. Vieites also guarded the goal for all four of their Copa del Rey matches, where they were beaten 5-1 by Barcelona in the Round of 16.
Options for clubs seeking players outside transfer windows are extremely limited. Even emergency loans can only be sanctioned under strict conditions, and Leicester already had two fit goalkeepers.
However, Begovic is now 38 years old, and while Stolarczyk has had a strong start as first-choice goalkeeper, Leicester were just one injury away from needing a youth player on the bench should Stolarczyk get sidelined.
Thus, bringing in a third senior goalkeeper is a shrewd piece of business. Vieites adds extra cover in case of injuries to Stolarczyk or Begovic, and the competition he introduces could elevate the performances of all three.
Considering Leicester reached the end of transfer deadline day without a third goalkeeping option, signing a goalkeeper with recent European experience could be seen as a small coup.