Leicester City are heading to Evian-les-Bains on the France-Switzerland border for a week-long training camp where Steve Cooper will get a closer look at his squad
Leicester City’s preparations for the new Premier League season step up a notch this week as they head to France for a week-long training camp.
The City squad fly out to Evian-les-Bains on the banks of Lake Geneva on Monday. It’s a trip that will help to build the players’ fitness as they train on the edge of the Alps, while it also affords new manager Steve Cooper a closer look at individuals as he builds his plans for the new campaign.
The resort on the France-Switzerland border has been a regular spot for City in pre-season, with Brendan Rodgers taking the squad there two years ago. This week, City will do a week of work before finishing with training exercise matches against other sides working in the region, including La Liga outfit Villarreal.
The players who head out to Evian will give further clues as to who is in Cooper’s plans for the coming season, particularly in terms of young players. In the first week of pre-season, Will Alves, Sammy Braybrooke, Logan Briggs, and Silko Thomas were all involved with the senior team from the get-go, and they will hope to continue to impress.
Cooper’s squad is quickly swelling. Twenty-four players started senior training last Monday, but since then Caleb Okoli has been brought in from Atalanta, Wilfred Ndidi has rejoined the club after signing a new contract, while midfielder Brandon Cover was called up from the development squad.
The 20-year-old made his senior debut last season, starting in the FA Cup victory over Birmingham, while he played every minute in Premier League 2 for the Under-21s. A deep-lying midfielder by trade, he often spent last season playing the hybrid role taken on by Ricardo Pereira in the first team, moving from full-back to the centre of the pitch when City had possession.
With Abdul Fatawu to be confirmed, and with five internationals – Mads Hermansen, Jannik Vestergaard, Wout Faes, Victor Kristiansen, and Bobby De Cordova-Reid – still to come into the squad, the number of players under consideration by Cooper will rise to 33, unless he starts to whittle them down. The manager will need to create space for new players too, with City still requiring signings, not least in attacking midfield.
For the likes of Okoli and fellow new signing Michael Golding, the trip also offers a chance to bond with team-mates. For that reason and a few more, it’s valuable, defender Conor Coady believes.
He told the club ahead of the trip: “Evian comes with its challenges because of how hard pre-season is. We all know it. We all understand it. I’ve had a lot of them in my career, pre-seasons. I love them each and every year.
“It’s great to spend time with the lads, going somewhere like that. New lads come all the time and it’s important we incorporate them. It’s something we’re really looking forward to, and it’s a lovely place in a lovely part of the world as well.”
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