Craig Shakespeare has admitted “one or two” of his players could yet leave before the end of the window.
But if Chelsea do match the £40m asking price for Danny Drinkwater – or get close enough – they have a ready-made replacement in Matty James.
The former Manchester United trainee missed the whole of the title-winning campaign through a knee injury and was shipped out on loan to Barnsley last season.
Now 26, he made his first Premier League appearance since May 2015 at the Emirates and formed a solid central midfield pairing with Wilfred Ndidi against Brighton.
They are not Dkinkwater and N'Golo Kante but the duo provide a solid platform for the wingers to get forward and Shinji Okazaki pushes up to support Jamie Vardy.
James is always available to receive the ball and play it simple – he just makes Shakespeare's team tick.
And with Brighton playing with only one striker, he was able to cut off the supply line to Glenn Murray and then Tomer Hemed – and slot into a defensive role for setpieces to allow the centre-backs to get forward.
James can be a really important player for the Foxes this season.