Leicester City now have a surplus of central midfielders, here FoL evaluates where last season’s fringe players performed and where now for the future.
Being a squad player isn’t easy, so much so that you don’t even get a full review from article writers. Here’s a quick round-up of some of the midfielders on the fringes who could potentially find themselves at new clubs after the transfer window slams shut (Note: its metaphorical, there is no slamming of transfer windows)
Dennis Praet, Leicester City statistics
Appearances total: – 24/ Premier League –15 / FA Cup – 2 / Europa League – 6 / EFL Cup – 1
Goals total: – 2
Moment to savour: – A thunderbolt against Burnley
Moment to forget: – Not being involved in the FA Cup final
If Dennis Praet was in a different Leicester era of central midfielders he would be a guaranteed starter with plenty of appearances under his belt. With 2 of the finest central midfielders and the quality of James Maddison in the number 10 position, Praet is constantly overlooked. His stats above suggest not so, but the context is that he was only afforded 1,202 minutes, only three times was he given a full 90 minutes and none of those was in the Premier League.
Normally Belgium’s dynamic team member is an all-action box-to-box midfielder and was seen fairly regularly at the start of the season in the absence of Wilfred Ndidi. But following being hooked after a disastrous first-half to Fulham he was rarely seen again before the end of the season. A hamstring injury picked up at Stoke was a contributing factor, but following his return in April, he barely featured.
The cynical side of us wonders if Praet made his future intentions clear to the manager and following that he was cast aside. With the signing of Boubakary Soumare and the introduction of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, I’ll be surprised if Praet ever plays for Leicester again.
Rating: 6/10 Chances of leaving: 100%
Nampalys Mendy, Leicester City statistics
Appearances total: – 29/ Premier League –23 / FA Cup – 2 / Europa League – 4 / EFL Cup – 0
Goals total: – 0
Moment to savour: – Earning an international call-up for Senegal
Moment to forget: – That goals column never being threatened
Bizarrely, Nampalys Mendy has now been a foxes player for half a decade, and only in the last season have we started to see some of his best football. Utilised in the defensive midfield areas in the absence of Wilfred Ndidi, he racked up a number of impressive displays and was becoming a crucial player with solid and consistent performances.
But alas the Frenchman’s last full 90 minutes came in January in a comprehensive defeat at home to Leeds United. He was used sporadically after that and valiantly so.
The arrival of Soumare is probably pushing him lower down the list of defensive midfielders and it might be now that Mendy starts to explore opportunities outside the club.
Rating: 7/10 Chances of leaving: 75%
Hamza Choudhury, Leicester City statistics
Appearances total: – 22/ Premier League –10 / FA Cup – 3 / Europa League – 8 / EFL Cup – 1
Goals total: – 1
Moment to savour: – A lovely goal against AEK Athens
Moment to forget: – A poor attempt to block Ross Barkley’s late Aston Villa winner
Hamza Choudhury is an enigma of a player that sits somewhere as a combination between Praet and Mendy. He’s all action and tough tackling but not quite as good as either in what he does.
Choudhury is more than useful and has been utilised mainly in the Europa League but his Premier League minutes have been limited which is more down to the players ahead of him. He’s clearly got more development to go through and will undoubtedly improve, but the question is whether he sees his future development at Leicester City or not.
Back in January, there were rumours that the 23-year-old was off to Newcastle United in a loan deal, strangely Brendan Rodgers was only interested in a permanent transfer which tells you where the manager sees Choudhury’s future.
Rating: 6/10 Chances of leaving: 60%