Steve Cooper will know a lot more about his Leicester City squad after the opening few weeks of the season.
Having replaced Enzo Maresca as Leicester City manager early in the summer, Steve Cooper knew there was no time to waste in assembling a squad capable of competing in the Premier League.
That saw the arrivals of nine first-team players, with the loan signing of Odsonne Edouard concluding Leicester’s business on Deadline Day.
Cooper has the unenviable task of integrating the new arrivals into last season’s Championship-winning side, however this is not an issue for one of the additions as Abdul Fatawu was at the club on loan last year before signing permanently from Sporting this summer.
Leicester City winger Abdul Fatawu tops Premier League chart
Fatawu is far from the finished article at 20 but has endeared himself to Leicester fans with his work rate and ability to make things happen.
This has seen the Ghanaian used at wingback at times early in Cooper’s rein, but it is not a position he looks particularly comfortable playing.
Despite this, Fatawu always looks to get stuck in and his work helping James Justin up against Heung-Min Son and Destiny Udogie on the opening day draw against Tottenham was proof of this.
That game contributed to Fatawu sitting joint top of the Premier League charts for tackles won, which is a surprising statistic for a winger who prefers to do his work with the ball.
According to the Premier League website, Fatawu has won 12 tackles across Leicester’s three Premier League games so far which is matched only by Fulham left-back Antonee Robinson.
Fatawu statistic shows he’s willing to make sacrifices for Leicester City
Whilst just one statistic, this is testament to the character of Fatawu who is always willing to put the needs of the team ahead of himself.
Fatawu is the only player in the top three who is considered an attacker, with Nottingham Forest midfielder Ibrahim Sangare, Crystal Palace right-back Daniel Munoz and Tottenham centre-back Cristian Romero all joint second with nine tackles won.
Sean Longstaff and Kobbie Mainoo complete the list with eight, with both players centre-midfielders.
The fact Fatawu is willing to roll up his sleeves and work so hard for his team shows he is fully bought into Leicester’s survival bid and this will be music to the ears of Cooper.
Leave a Reply