Leicester midfielder may leave despite manager’s wish to keep him
By Will Kennedy
Why would Dennis Praet leave Leicester City?
A major factor in a potential exit for Praet is the Belgian national team. Once a frequent inclusion for the wider squad, the midfielder last played for his country in November 2022 and was snubbed for the World Cup.
Ever since his arrival to the East Midlands in 2019, Praet has struggled for regular minutes and starts, more often being used for cup competitions rather than successive league games. Partially down to unfortunate injuries, the main reason was the quality ahead of him in the squad. The likes of James Maddison, Youri Tielemans, Ayoze Perez and Ndidi were all firmly ahead of him in the pecking order.
Keen to get a run of games under his belt, and out of Brendan Rodgers’ favour, Praet was loaned to Torino in the Serie A, a competition he was familiar with due to his previous experience at Sampdoria. On the pitch he was excellent and quickly became one of the first names on the team sheet. Unfortunately, his time in Italy saw him plagued with injury. Suffering five separate setbacks, Praet was on the sidelines for 112 days, missing a combined 23 games. He ended that season having played 24 games, scoring twice and assisting a further two.