3 Young Leicester stars who deserve to start against OHL

Leicester City’s pre-season preparations are in full swing as they host sister club OH Leuven at Seagrave Training Ground on Wednesday. The Foxes picked up their first win of pre-season on Saturday as they beat Northampton Town 1-0.

Pre-season is the perfect opportunity for managers to take a deeper look at some of the fringe players and youth academy, before deciding whether to keep them around the first-team or find them a loan move.

City have a notoriously good youth system, with a string of players such as Harvey Barnes, Ben Chilwell, and Luke Thomas getting first-team chances in recent years. A few players in the youth system have already had minutes in the first-team like Kasey McAteer and Lewis Brunt, as well as Sammy Braybrooke and Will Alves who are recovering from long-term injuries.

With Enzo Maresca having the experience of coaching the Manchester City development squad and leading them to a PL2 title, the Italian is best placed to help develop the young players at Leicester City.

Here are a few Leicester City youth players who should start!

Wanya Marcal-Madivadua: The Portuguese winger has already featured heavily in Leicester’s pre-season schedule, with an impressive 60-minute cameo against Northampton Town. He is a player that enjoys the challenge of taking players on and one who has a few tricks in his locker. The 20-year-old also seems to be a player with bags of confidence who is not afraid to play an ambitious pass, as he did when he played in Jamie Vardy with a brilliant first-time ball on Saturday.

With Harvey Barnes heavily linked with a move away from the club that would leave the veteran Marc Albrighton as the only out-and-out winger at the club, which could open up a space for Marcal-Madivadua. If Maresca can give him first-team minutes then the best option would be to keep him under the watchful eye of the Italian, if not then we should find a loan move for him.

Chris Popov: The attacker has been dubbed as a hot prospect by Leicester fans and is a player that can play across the frontline. The former Manchester United academy product has been impressive in the Foxes’ development squads which have earned him a spot in the Wales youth squad.

The 18-year-old was promoted to the under-21s this season after he bagged 16 goals and three assists for the under-18s. But after an injury-struck season, he only managed to notch one goal in 11 matches. With Popov yet to have a loan move, it may be the best option to send him away to pick up valuable first-team minutes before integrating him straight into the first-team for the upcoming season.

Zach Booth: The American midfielder is a versatile, combative player who can play in a range of positions across the midfield but most commonly as a box-to-box midfielder. The 19-year-old joined Leicester in 2020 from MLS side Real Salt Lake, and after progressing through the ranks at Leicester he is now picking up attention.

Booth was pictured training with the first-team at the beginning of pre-season which could suggest that he is part of Maresca’s thinking this season, while Leicester City have previously been linked with his brother Tyler Booth who plays out in The Netherlands. With Leicester looking light in midfield after the departures of Nampalys Mendy, Youri Tielemans and James Maddison he may be able to force his way into Maresca’s thinking.

LCFC face OH Leuven on Wednesday, July 19 before flying out to southeast Asia to face Tottenham and Liverpool in Thailand and Singapore respectively, before they host Coventry City in the first game of the Championship season on August 6.