Five Leicester City players on review to get fresh playing opportunity under new manager as rebuilt plan start

A new manager can mean a new start, and there are plenty of players at Leicester City who would welcome one. Here’s a rundown of five players who may have their careers at the King Power Stadium reinvigorated when there’s a new boss at the helm.

Harry Souttar

Perhaps unfairly, Souttar did not get a look-in under Maresca. It was deemed by the Italian that the other defenders in the City squad had greater quality on the ball and were more suitable to the way he wanted to play. A fall down the pecking order nearly led to the Australian joining Rangers, but instead, he stayed at the club, barely making the bench.

But despite what Maresca thought, Souttar is decent on the ball. He’s also far quicker than you’d expect of a centre-back of his size and he’s strong in the air too. If he can learn to bring his international goalscoring form to club level and attack the box as well as he does for Australia, then the club will have a real asset on their hands too.

Plus, if he is to be sold, it will need to be for a significant amount for it to go in the books as a profit. On that basis, he is worth considering by the new manager.

Victor Kristiansen

Bought in the same transfer window as Souttar, Kristiansen found himself out of favour after Maresca opted not to play with traditional full-backs. He wanted the Dane to play like James Justin and Callum Doyle, as a left-back out of possession but as a left-sided centre-back in it. Kristiansen wasn’t happy with that and left for Bologna.

And he’s had a very good season, helping the Italian side to finish in the top five of Serie A and qualify for the Champions League, with his never-say-die attitude and his endeavour in supporting the attack have both been praised. If a new manager comes in and plays with a more traditional back-line, Kristiansen is worth another look.

Boubakary Soumare

Another player who had been out on loan is Soumare, and as with Kristiansen, he’s been well-received at his temporary home. Sevilla can’t bring him back because they can’t afford him, but the suggestions from Spain are that they would have preferred to keep him.

An inconsistent performer at City, moments where he lacked concentration cost the Frenchman a run in the side. But as he matures, maybe those aspects of his game will improve. Because there are a lot of other attributes that make him worth a look for the prospective new manager, especially his powerful driving runs through the midfield and into the final third.

Conor Coady

It’s not that Coady has been out of the picture, but he’s definitely not played as much as he nor anybody else anticipated. When signed, Coady was expected to be the stalwart at the heart of the defence every week. But injury allowed Jannik Vetergaard in and he made the role his own, meaning Coady made just eight league starts.

However, City are going to have a much tougher time in the top flight than they did in the Championship, and Coady’s experience, leadership skills and qualities when defending deep may make him a more important option when the new man takes the reins. Then again, with Vestergaard expected to sign a new contract, and with Wout Faes, Ben Nelson, and Souttar as options too, there’s plenty of competition.

Will Alves

Alves wasn’t necessarily overlooked by Maresca. He had a few muscle injuries as he made his comeback from an ACL tear, and so for the majority of the season, he never quite built up enough fitness to stake a claim for a spot on the bench, bar the win at Watford.

Maresca clearly thought he was talented, keeping him around the first-team squad, with the teenager even joining the senior players on their post-season celebratory trip to Monaco. But even for the final game of the season, when the title was won, Alves still didn’t get onto the bench.