Leicester City will have been relieved to get back to winning ways at Sunderland on Tuesday night, remaining perched at the top of the Championship table with a relatively straightforward 1-0 win.
Enzo Maresca's Foxes had lost their last three second-tier matches before responding at the Stadium of Light, Jamie Vardy rolling back the years with the game-clinching strike early on in Wearside.
Vardy firing in the winner as the main striker could well have come as a shock considering the Foxes man has only started 11 games this season, but Leicester do have selection dilemmas all over their side despite being first in the division.
Both Callum Doyle and James Justin have had to be drafted in at left-back for the high-flyers to fill gaps, with the table-toppers rueing the decision to offload this Danish talent out on loan for the season who could have starred in this problem area.
How Victor Kristiansen has performed this season
Despite costing Leicester City £17m just last year, the relegated Foxes didn't hesitate whatsoever in allowing Victor Kristiansen to join Bologna on loan before a ball was even kicked this season.
Kristiansen would show glimpses of the quality that attracted Leicester to buy him for a hefty fee on occasion in the Premier League, helping himself to an assist in April of the relegation season when Leicester picked up a rare three points in the top flight against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Yet, despite promising beginnings at the King Power Stadium, it was deemed in Kristiansen's best interests to be moved on to Italy anyway.
This move has left Leicester unbelievably short in the left-back department, hence the desperate need for Maresca to deploy Doyle and Justin there despite the pair mainly lining up elsewhere usually across the back four.
Kristiansen has further proved the decision to move him on to be a rash one playing for Bologna this season in the Serie A, accumulating a respectable four assists from 18 appearances as a forward-thinking option down the left channel.
There are rumbles that the 21-year-old defender could well want to stay put in Italy over returning to fight for his spot back at Leicester now, with Il Corriere dello Sport even stating that Kristiansen is unwilling to move back to the King Power Stadium when the loan spell is up.
If Maresca can drastically change the young defender's mindset, he could well slot straight into the Foxes first-team and displace Justin in the process.
How Kristiansen compares to James Justin
With Callum Doyle heading back to Pep Guardiola's side at the end of the campaign on the agenda too, Leicester will need more bodies in through the door to challenge the likes of Justin in the left-back spot.
Justin has struggled in crunch games for Leicester recently – giving up possession 11 times away at Elland Road as Leicester fell to a dramatic 3-1 defeat to promotion rivals Leeds United – and so could find his position in the team shaky if Kristiansen was to emerge back onto the scene.
Justin also has two less assists than Kristiansen next to his name, with the Bologna loanee – who has been hailed as "powerful" by Iwan Roberts – battling well in a top division compared to the former Luton Town man blowing hot and cold in the second tier.
The current Bologna number 15 would also allow for the blow of Doyle – who has chalked up just two assists all season – going back to Man City to be stomached easier also, Maresca keen to have a natural full-back at his disposal over shoehorning the 6 foot 1 centre-back into that role.
Kristiansen joined Leicester full of hype at the start of 2023, but hasn't really kicked into gear for the Foxes yet.
Yet, fresh off the back of a formative loan switch to Italy, Maresca could well sense the time is right to reintroduce the 21-year-old into the Foxes fold to finally find his trustworthy starting left-back option.