Marc Albrighton will go down as one of Leicester City’s greatest signings of all time.
For all the money spent in football, sometimes the best transfer you can do is sign somebody for nothing.
When Marc Albrighton joined Leicester City on a free transfer after being released by his boyhood club Aston Villa in 2014, nobody expected him to make the impact he did.
Instead, Albrighton would go on to win four trophies, score a historical goal in the Champions League, and become adored by everyone affiliated with the Foxes.
Although there are plenty more memorable moments, we’ve picked five of Albrighton’s greatest in a Leicester shirt.
5 – Sunderland on opening day of 2015-2016 season
The 2015-2016 season is famous for the Foxes’ famous Premier League title win and thanks to Albrighton, a win on the opening day kicked off a memorable campaign.
A Jamie Vardy strike and Riyad Mahrez brace saw Claudio Ranieri’s side race into a 3-0 lead before the half-hour mark Jermain Defoe reduced the deficit to two in the 60th minute.
Albrighton made sure of the three points though with a superb swivel-and-shot following Younes Kaboul’s heavy touch.
That moment was just the first of a series of an incredible chapter in the Leicester City story.
4 – The great escape, 2014-2015 season
Arriving as a free transfer in Leicester’s return to top-flight football after 10 years away, his previous experience as a Premier League player didn’t automatically seal his place in the first team.
Anthony Knockaert and Riyad Mahrez were both rewarded after their successful Championship campaigns, reducing Albrighton to a bit-part role.
In April 2015 however, Nigel Pearson decided to revert to a wing-back style formation, enabling Albrighton to come into the equation.
He was crucial as the Foxes secured seven wins from their final nine games to pull off a dramatic rescue mission.
3 – The cross that caused an earthquake, 2015-2016 season
How often can you say you were involved in a goal that caused a literal earthquake?
Very few of us I’d imagine but Albrighton is the man who assisted Leonardo Ulloa’s dramatic late winner against Norwich City that sent ripples across Leicestershire.
Still facing doubts about whether they could sustain their Premier League title challenge it looked certain that the Foxes would drop two points against a lowly Norwich side but as all winners do, they found a way.
Albrighton’s low-driven ball into the box was clipped home by Ulloa, sending the King Power Stadium into raptures. So much so that it later emerged that the celebrations had triggered an earthquake.
A small one albeit, but the goal itself was a seismic shockwave to the rest of the league that Leicest meant business.
2 – Champions League history, 2016-2017
Leicester’s reward for winning the Premier League was their first-ever Champions League group stage.
Drawn alongside Club Brugge, Copenhagen, and Porto it was a trip to Belgium that would begin their European adventure.
Despite being favourites there was still a feeling of not knowing what to expect as the Foxes sat at the table of Europe’s elite for the first time.
They didn’t need to worry. Sliding home to poke the ball past the Brugge goalkeeper and score the club’s first-ever goal was none other than Albrighton.
One of those moments that stays with you forever. It was also the catalyst for Ranieri’s men to go on and win the game 3-0 as they began a European journey that saw them go all the way to the quarter-finals.
1 – That night against Sevilla, Champions League round of 16, 2016-2017 season
Probably one of the most famous games in Leicester’s history.
Ranieri had been sacked the day after Leicester’s 2-1 defeat away to LaLiga side Sevilla and under the guise of the late Craig Shakespeare, were given a mountain to climb.
Wes Morgan’s header brought the tie level on aggregate but it was Albrighton’s strike that would put Leicester ahead for the first time in the tie.
Kasper Schmeichel would then go on to save Steven N’Zonzi’s penalty as the East Midlanders secured a famous win on Filbert Way.
Their journey would end in the last eight against Diego Simeone however they went further than any other English team that season.
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