Foxes of Leicester
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3 Leicester players Enzo Maresca cannot ignore vs Coventry

By Will Kennedy

LEICESTER, ENGLAND - JULY 19: Manager Enzo Maresca of Leicester City ahead of the pre-season friendly match between Leicester City and OH Leuven at the Leicester City training Complex, Seagrave on July 19, 2023 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Plumb Images/Getty Images)
LEICESTER, ENGLAND - JULY 19: Manager Enzo Maresca of Leicester City ahead of the pre-season friendly match between Leicester City and OH Leuven at the Leicester City training Complex, Seagrave on July 19, 2023 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Plumb Images/Getty Images) /
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Leicester City
SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – JULY 30: Mohamed Salah of Liverpool FC vies with Ricardo Pereira of Leicester City during the preseason friendly match between Liverpool and Leicester City at the National Stadium on July 30, 2023 in Singapore. (Photo by Playmaker/MB Media/Getty Images) /

Leicester City’s Ricardo Pereira

Come their relegation in May, you’d have been forgiven for thinking that we’d seen the last of Ricardo Pereira at Leicester City. The right-back has been with the club since his £20m signing in 2018 and is far too good of a player to be in the Championship. Since the start of pre-season though, it’s been abundantly clear that he will stay.

Once regarded as one of the best right-backs on the planet come his form in 2019, Ricardo has suffered a horrific spell with injury. Since his ACL rupture in March 2020, the defender has missed over 19 months of football through calmative injuries and is yet to experience a clean season since the turn of the decade.

Now 29, he is aiming to be back to his best. We’ve already seen Ricardo merge into a midfielder in Maresca’s 3-2-4-2 formation, understandable given his brilliant work in attack. With the Foxes still stumbling in the final third, having a fully fit Ricardo adds a whole new dimension to the right of the pitch.

With Timothy Castagne clearly keen for a move away and James Justin still easing himself back into contention, Ricardo has a chance to make that right-back spot his again and, if he stays injury-free, may just play himself back into the Portugal squad (he has seven senior caps to his name).

Listed by Maresca as key leader on the pitch – and even a potential captain given the loss of previous club-captain, Jonny Evans, on a free transfer – the defender has all the tools to become one of the greatest Championship players of all time.