There are plenty of Leicester City youngsters who could be the next Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – Jordan Blackwell takes a look at a few of them for LeicestershireLive
Leicester City had a healthy number of homegrown talents contribute to their Championship title success, with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall winning player of the season, Hamza Choudhury and Kasey McAteer also taking on prominent roles, and Ben Nelson and Jakub Stolarczyk contributing too.
Beyond that, Wanya Marcal, Brandon Cover and Tawanda Maswanhise also moved up from the development squad to represent Enzo Maresca’s first team this past season.
Seeing academy graduates play for the senior side is becoming an increasingly-regular occurrence. And it’s a good job. With money tight and City needing to be careful over financial rules, if they can promote an academy talent rather than splash the cash in the transfer market, then that’s going to help a great deal.
So who will be the next players to come through? We’ve picked out 10 lads in the academy yet to make their league debut for the club, but who have an excellent chance of doing so in the near future…
Will Alves
At this point, Alves needs no introduction. He made his debut in the FA Cup aged 16 and has gone viral in City circles for his dazzling footwork and superb solo goals, as well as the awful tackle that has stunted his progress.
Now back from his knee ligament tear, Alves looked in great nick for the development squad at the end of the campaign. With a full pre-season to get him up to speed, and with City short on attacking midfielders as things stand, it’s about time he was given his chance in the first team. This could be his season.
Sammy Braybrooke
Many of the same points apply to Braybrooke. He too has recovered from ACL surgery and was also looking strong in his run of games towards the end of the season. He also feels ready for a breakthrough year, whether that’s in City’s first team or on loan.
It’s clear from watching Braybrooke play that he already has a game intelligence far beyond his years. He knows the right time to make passes from the base of midfield, and he can pull them off too. That ability to spread play, and to carry the ball forward, make him an ideal alternative to Harry Winks in the City midfield.
Logan Briggs
Alves’ injury opened the door for Briggs to step into the development squad from the under-18s, and playing in an advanced midfield role, he looks to have the technical attributes to prosper too. He caught Maresca’s eye, earning a spot on the bench at Bournemouth in the FA Cup, while he was named academy player of the year at the club’s awards night last month. Expect to hear his name mentioned a lot more often over the next 18 months.
Silko Thomas
Snapped up last summer after he left Chelsea, Thomas made an immediate impression at City. A fine dribbler of the ball and with the quality to make it count in the final third, he won the club’s development squad player of the season award. In seven of the last eight years, the winner of that award has gone on to play for the first team in the following campaign, so there’s a good chance he will get his taste of senior football in the upcoming season.
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Joe Wormleighton
Named under-21s captain this season, Wormleighton missed the first few months through injury but was a regular from December onwards. The 20-year-old will be hoping to make his breakthrough soon, and what may help his cause is his versatility.
Formerly a winger, Wormleighton has mostly been used as a full-back over the past couple of seasons, but also as a centre-back. It feels like he can adapt to whatever role he needs to play. As for his qualities, he’s aggressive in the tackle and can deliver a decent cross too.
Chris Popov
He’s had quite a few setbacks through injury but whenever he has played, striker Popov has shown he’s got pace, a finishing touch, and most notably, relentless energy to press defenders. Never giving the opposition a moment’s rest, the Welshman has earned comparisons to Jamie Vardy. An injury-free season next term could get him ready for the first team.
Kirsten Otchere
In his first full season at under-18 level, attacking midfielder Otchere bagged 10 goals in 19 starts and was instrumental in a lot of the wins the academy enjoyed. That goal-scoring knack earned him a couple of outings in the under-21s, and he will hope to make a more permanent step up in the coming season.
Josh King
Striker King has bagged a hatful at youth level, twice scoring five goals in a game in his final season with the under-16s. He’s now been with the under-18s for a couple of years and has scored 10 goals in 19 games. He simply knows where the net is, a fine quality to have as he progresses through the ranks.
Jake Evans
Scorer of both goals as Leicester beat Manchester City to win the Under-16 Premier League Cup last month, Evans is rightly generating a lot of excitement. Playing on the right wing and cutting onto his left foot, he’s got excellent close control and will cause defenders all sorts of problems with his direct dribbling. He’s got strength under pressure and an eye for goal too, scoring seven in 15 games for the Under-18s this season. It’s no surprise he’s in the England set-up.
Jeremy Monga
Another in the England ranks and another who contributed a great deal to City Under-16s’ triumph is Monga. He played on the opposite flank to Evans, lighting up the final with some exceptional dribbling in tight spaces. Making his Under-18s debut aged just 14 shows he’s on the right path, but it also means he’s a fair few years away from potentially being in first-team reckoning.
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