Leicester youth Kasey McAteer promoted to senior squad

Leicester City youth star Kasey McAteer was spotted in senior side training in recent weeks. Here is what you need to know about this rising midfielder.

The Foxes‘ youth academy is certainly improving as of late. A plethora of rising stars are present at all levels of the club in both men’s and women’s football. One of these is McAteer. U23 boss Ben Petty has been impressed enough with the midfielder to make him a central element of the side.

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In Premier League 2, no matter whether the academy product is intended to play a more offensive or defensive role, Petty ensures they bring a creative and technical spark to the role the player inhabits at the time.

Alongside Tawanda Maswanhise, Wanya Marcal-Madivadua, and Vontae Daley-Campbell, McAteer is a crucial element to the side. Technically, the Englishman is on par with his companion Maswanhise, and in work rate on par with VDC.

The potential there is massive. Now, the best position for the recent birthday boy 20-year-old is not exactly known. The boss has utilised the player as an attacking midfielder, right and left wing-back, and even as a standard central midfielder. With this, the youngster has accumulated 2 goals and an assist.

It is perhaps the long passes and ball carrying aspects of the game he excels at. His recent assist for Marcal-Madivadua against West Ham United came from a cross-field pass delivered with precision and the perfect weighting for the Portuguese star to bring the ball under his spell and easily get the shot away.

Though the player might not yet be prolific, that technicality and hard work he exhibits should carry the youngster further toward the Leicester City senior squad, and the eyes of boss Brendan Rodgers.

This looked to be the case in recent weeks. It is no surprise that the Northern Irishman likes to integrate young talent into the side for senior training exercises and to get a better idea of how they could be used. On top of that, Rodgers does often watch the U23 matches at the Seagrave training centre.

McAteer must have caught Rodgers’ imagination, as the gaffer has brought him, Maswanhise, Marcal-Madivadua, VDC, and others into senior team training. This is often a prelude to game time in domestic cup competitions.

However, it is not clear what position the player would get. At the moment, the Foxes are crying out for a bit of creativity in midfield so that might be a useful position. The Englishman is perhaps just as suited to playing the right wing-back role in matches we plan to dominate.

Wherever he ends up playing, this rising star is now in the limelight for the senior side, and will one day be introduced to the first team. Another young academy midfielder like Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Hamza Choudhury, with tonnes of potential to develop into someone truly unique.