Hamza Choudhury deserves to be starting for Leicester City

Leicester City academy graduate Hamza Choudhury deserves a run in the Premier League following some brilliant performances, Claude Puel should reinstate the starlet:

Hamza Choudhury was excellent against Manchester City in the League Cup in a penalty shootout defeat. In fact, he played so well that boss Claude Puel chose him for the next Premier League match versus Chelsea; which the Foxes won dramatically.

A third consecutive start came in another miraculous premiership triumph versus the Citizens. Choudhury was instrumental in breaking down and beginning play.

A Foxes academy graduate from Leicestershire, the recognisable 21-year-old is of Bangladeshi and Grenadian ancestry. He is a likeable, amiable young man who “doesn’t take himself too seriously.”

Though it’s on field where this starlet will become a Leicester City club legend, if he remains at the King Power Stadium.

Statistics of Leicester City’s Choudhury Vs Ndidi, Mendy

In the top-flight, the five-foot-ten dynamo has recorded: 2.5 tackles a game, nearly three interceptions, 1.5 clearances, 1.3 successful dribbles, a 78.2 pass success rate and 0.8 blocks. More than satisfactory.

In addition, the England Under-21 international provides some adequate attacking input; statistics via WhoScored. Whereas Wilfred Ndidi challenges opponents more in games, his touch is worse; not to mention the awful shots he exhibits nearly twice a game. We’ve all seen his dip in form.

Mendy has particularly great pass completion data – mainly because he attempts nothing adventurous; side and backwards. His performances include less tackles and interceptions.

So, the stats show each player providing different skills, but the intent and desire from Choudhury – such potent attributes in this competitive division – single him out as the most important piece of that midfield contact zone on balance currently.

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Sky Sports provide great insight into Choudhury’s rise and rise at Leicester City:

"His rise has been rapid.Choudhury is the latest young prospect to make the step up to the senior ranks, following in the footsteps of Ben Chilwell. As a scholar at Leicester, Choudhury cleaned Jamie Vardy’s boots. Now he’s serving him on the field in a midfield role that relies on him to break up play and feed Leicester’s creative talents further up the pitch."

With both Ndidi and Mendy providing uneven displays and the former finding it hard to replicate last season’s terrific form, Choudhury deserves to continue to build his wonderful foundation as a Fox.

However, the manager threw an absolute curve-ball this in this week’s pre-Liverpool press conference, with a complete U-turn in the Adrien Silva-saga. The Portuguese is now thought to be staying again.

Incredibly, Puel gave the direct indication of Silva starting in a midfield-three with Papy Mendy and Wilfred Ndidi. Will that be against Liverpool on Wednesday? Yet the media say the Portugal international is part of a swap deal with AS Monaco for Youri Tielemans.

The question is for Choudhury is: which player should he replace in the gaffer’s latest proposed format of the Leicester team? This writer would choose Mendy as the unlucky man at present.