Leicester City have seen a number of Championship clubs compete for the signing of striker Tom Cannon and another have reportedly joined the race for his signature.
With a number of their own strikers subject to interest from other clubs, Luton Town are supposedly looking at the 21 year old striker as an option to add to their forward line. The Hatters are likely to have competition for his signature with the likes of Sheffield United and Stoke City also rumoured to be keeping tabs on the Leicester striker.
Cannon’s Career so far
Tom Cannon came through the Everton youth academy after signing for the Toffees at the age of ten and represented the club at various youth levels, making a total of 105 appearances from the under 18s to the academy side, scoring 56 goals. Despite his impressive record at youth level, the striker never made an impact for the first team and made three appearances overall.
A loan move to the Championship and Preston North End followed in the second half of the 2022-23 season. He had a significant impact for the Lilywhites in the 21 appearances he made by contributing eight goals. His form caught the attention of his current club, Leicester, who signed him on a five-year deal in 2023.
He was a member of the Foxes side that won the Championship title last season, scoring three goals in 16 appearances. The 21 year old made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in June against Portugal.
With Leicester signing Jordan Ayew from Premier League rivals Crystal Palace, Cannon has seen himself slip further down Steve Cooper’s pecking order at Leicester. A move back to the second tier could be on the cards before the window closes next week which would arguably suit both parties.
Why do Luton need Cannon?
A number of Luton’s star players could be targeted by clubs before the close of the window. The likes of Carlton Morris, Tahith Chong and Elijah Adebayo have all been touted with moves away from the Bedfordshire side earlier in the window.
Having started the 2024-25 season poorly, Luton may be looking to freshen up their attack and Cannon could be the answer to increasing their firepower. Should Luton look to sign the former Everton striker they are likely to have to fight off Sheffield United and Stoke for his signature and meet Leicester’s valuation of £7 million for the striker.
What impact could Cannon have in the Championship?
The striker’s statistics from his time at Preston show how much of a goal threat and clinical finisher Cannon is. The 21 year old scored eight goals from an expected goals total (xG) of 5.06 showing that he could find the back of the net from difficult positions.
The former Evertonian created an average of 2.41 shots per 90 minutes at an accuracy of 73%. Cannon had similar numbers for Leicester last season despite being the club’s fourth choice striker. He outscored his expected goals once again with two goals from 1.54 xG and took 3.4 shots per 90 minutes on average with an accuracy of 69%.
Despite these numbers, he is unlikely to create chances for others or beat opponents one-on-one as shown last season with 0.85 chances created per 90 minutes and a 20% dribble success rate.
Regardless of his lack of creativity, Luton will look to sign Cannon to put the ball in the back of the net rather than creating chances. So far this season, Luton have scored one goal in the three games despite having an expected goals total of four.
On top of this, they have missed seven ‘big chances’ according to Fotmob which suggests that a player like Cannon who can finish difficult chances would be able to fire the Hatters up the table where they would hope to be, come the end of the season.