Trio of Championship Clubs Chase Leicester City Striker

The Leicester City striker’s career has yet to catch fire.

Despite bursting onto the scene at a young age, Cannon’s career took a step back following his recent move to Leicester. The attacker went through Everton youth academy after signing for the Toffees at age ten.

Cannon represented Everton at various youth levels and made 105 appearances from under-18s to the academy side, scoring 56 goals. The striker has made three first-team appearances since the first senior appearance in 2022.

The Evertonian was sent out on loan for the second half of the 2022-23 season to Championship Preston North End side and made an eye-catching impact. Cannon made 21 appearances for the Lilywhites and scored eight goals, which attracted the attention of some teams.

Leicester City secured Cannon’s signature in 2023 on a five-year deal and the striker made 16 appearances for the Foxes, scoring three goals to help the team to the Championship title and promotion back to the Premier League. striker made his debut for the Republic of Ireland national team against Portugal in June.

Which clubs are after Leicester City’s Cannon?

As reported, should Leicester City give the green light for Cannon to leave, he will be embroiled in a three-way battle for his signature. Sheffield United, West Brom and Stoke City have all been linked with a move for the Republic of Ireland international.

Blades manager Chris Wilder it is said to see Cannon as a replacement for the departed Oli McBurnie but faces competition from the Baggies and Potters. The move will likely depend on many requirements.

Cannon will likely want to be the main striker and play regularly, which may be difficult for Sheffield United to promise after signing Kieffer Moore earlier in the window. Leicester are likely to require competing sides to pay a large chunk of Cannon’s wages, which may ultimately be a deciding factor in where the forward ends up.

How good could the Leicester City striker be for a Championship side?

Cannon received high praise from former manager Ryan Lowe when he joined Preston in 2023:

“He is a young man with great energy, great ability, works his socks off for the team and more importantly is a goalscorer.”

The forward’s stats from his time at Preston show how much of a goal threat and clinical finisher Cannon is. The 21-year-old has scored eight from a total Expected Goals (xG) of 5.06, showing he can find the back of the net from difficult positions.

The former Evertonian has created an average of 2.41 shots per 90 minutes at 73% accuracy. Cannon had similar numbers for Leicester last season despite being the club’s fourth-choice striker. He topped his xG again by two goals from 1.54 xG and took an average of 3.4 shots per 90 minutes with 69% accuracy.

Despite those numbers, he’s just a scorer. He is unlikely to create chances for others or beat opponents one-on-one. He showed these skills last season with 0.85 chances created per 90 minutes and a dribble success rate of 20%.

Creating chances and popping up defenders is not what Cannon will be brought to the championship to do. All three clubs are chasing his signature to score goals and finish the chances created by others.

The 21-year-old has experience of being a member of a the winning side of the title and promotion and has probably upped his game, having worked with the likes of Jamie Vardy since he signed with Leicester. A loan move to a Championship side could be the best thing for both Leicester and Cannon, allowing him to have a full his season as first choice striker and develop his game even more.