The Fosse Way

Growing up, one of my favourite TV shows was A Question of Sport. My favourite round in the quiz show was What Happens Next, where, as many of you will recall, a short sporting clip would be shown, then the action paused and the question posed.

As we navigate the first international break, it feels very much like things are paused, so… for Leicester City, what happens next?

A. A glorious return to the Premier League and another visit to the balcony at the Clock Tower?

B. The all too familiar heartbreak of the play-offs?

C. Championship wasteland?

Unlike David Coleman or Sue Barker, I haven’t got the answer on a card in front of me. But I can have a look at the squad and take a guess.

Goalkeepers

Jakub Stolarczyk, Asmir Begovic, Stevie Bausor*

It’s unusual to go into the season with just two senior goalkeepers, plus the academy number one Stevie Bausor as the third man. However, under the current constraints, it probably makes sense for us not to be paying a significant wage for a player a fair way from the matchday squad.

Looking ahead (spoiler alert), we’re going to fill 21 of the slots in the permitted 25-man squad, as many of our players were born before 1st January 2004, and subsequently do not need to be registered (donated by the *).

All loan players have to be registered regardless of age. Therefore, in the event of injury to one of the senior keepers, we could dip into the free agent market. Not ideal, but here we are.

Jakub Stolarczyk has shown he’s very much ready to be number one, which possibly played a part in us accepting the rumoured lower than expected fee for Mads Hermansen.

Stolarczyk’s distribution is best described as erratic, much like Kasper Schmeichel’s was back in the day. But, like Schmeichel, his best quality is keeping the ball out of the net, which realistically is what any team needs. He deserves his shot at the number one jersey. New free signing Asmir Begovic provides the experienced head, with relatively recent game time under Martí Cifuentes at QPR too.

Defenders

Ricardo Pereira, Hamza Choudhury, Luke Thomas, Victor Kristiansen, Jannik Vestergaard, Wout Faes, Ben Nelson, Caleb Okoli, Harry Souttar, Olabade Aluko.

I was going to write that it’s a real surprise that Wout Faes is still at the club. It certainly seems to be a surprise to Belgium manager Rudi Garcia, who has left Faes out of their squad and urged him to find a better club (he’s not the first Belgium manager to belittle Leicester, one does wonder if there is an issue between the club and the Belgian FA?)

However, is it really a surprise? Faes has proven beyond any reasonable doubt that he’s miles away from being Premier League level and he’s also at an age where he’s unlikely to improve considerably. A move to the backwaters of Turkey appears to be his only route away from Leicester, and it’s one I genuinely hope materialises.

On the pitch, Jannik Vestergaard is once again back in favour. He’s another one that’s now unequivocally miles away from being Premier League level, and we’ve already seen so far this season both sides of his capability in the Championship.

Against a Jay Stansfield-less Birmingham, he was majestic. Bossed the defence, built the play and looked like a prize pooch at Crufts. However, against Preston, who forced him into doing some actual defending, he played like he had lead weights around his feet and he looked pretty ruff flaying around against the onslaught of runners in Lilywhite shirts.

Caleb Okoli has played well and, unusually for many of our players in recent times, is improving. Harry Souttar should be back in training before the Christmas decorations go up too.

However, it’s a concern that Ben Nelson is currently, and probably quite rightly, fourth choice. If he genuinely is the next big thing and the player we hope he can become, then he has to be ‘better’ than Vestergaard and Faes and, importantly, playing regularly. If he’s still fourth choice by next summer, that’s a massive red flag.

At full back, we look pretty well stocked. A sale of Victor Kristiansen would have opened the door for Bade Aluko, but Kristiansen’s untimely injury during pre-season potentially scuppered a move. Realistically, VK is done here and his agent needs to crack on and sort him a move in January. A more mature Luke Thomas appears to have nailed down the left-back slot, adding to the number of academy products in the team.

At right-back, the fact James Justin will no longer be allowing forwards to ghost past him is an enormous boost to our prospects. In his place, stand-in captain Hamza Choudhury has his limitations, but he genuinely cares and seems to be improving in the role where he seems more at home than he ever has in midfield. Sharing the captain duties is Ricardo, who hopefully stays fit to perform the role he did in the last game, adding experience, energy and quality from the bench.

Midfielders

Boubakary Soumare, Oliver Skipp, Jordan James (loan), Aaron Ramsey (loan), Harry Winks, Louis Page*

Well, well, well. Grumpy Harry is still here. Huffing and puffing his way around the pitch with utter contempt for seemingly the only club who’ll pay him what he thinks he’s worth. With 9 months to go on his contract, we’re probably stuck with him. This is a shame for our wage bill, but it’s reassuring that it appears the rest of the footballing world is giving him a wide berth after his antics over the last 12 months. Will he knuckle down and perform like we know he can? Does it even matter now we’ve made signings?

Looking across the squad, midfield certainly looked like an area where we were light as the window drew to a close. So the exciting deadline day signings of Aaron Ramsey (Jr) and Jordan James suddenly give that part of the pitch a revitalised look. The option to buy on James’s loan deal looks like an open goal, and one I hope we trigger as he’s a player with that mix of silk and steel that we’ve desperately lacked. Ramsey may take some time to bed in after a prolonged injury, but he has Championship pedigree and a little stardust in his boots.

However, with question marks over Oliver Skipp’s effectiveness and the eternal issue of Bouba Soumaré concentrating for 90 minutes, I still think there is a ‘2017-2021 Ndidi’ shaped hole at the base of the midfield. Even so, we’re certainly looking better than we were as the sun rose on September 1st. When you then add 17-year-old Louis Page to the conversation, who’s settling in nicely to first team football, things are definitely brighter in the middle of the park.

Wingers

Abdul Fatawu, Stephy Mavididi, Jeremy Monga, Bobby De Cordova-Reid, Silko Thomas, Wanya Marcal, Jake Evans.

The first three on this list are truly elite for the Championship. Abdul Fatawu already looks like Player of the Season in waiting, Stephy Mavididi is proven at this level and the sky is the limit for 16-year-old generational talent Jeremy Monga.

It’s maybe a surprise that both Silko Thomas and/or Wanya Marcel haven’t gone out on loan, especially with BDCR back in training and 17-year-old Jake Evans probably wondering why he’s no longer in the matchday squads.

Regardless, we look well stocked out wide, and it’s a while since we’ve been able to say that.

Forwards

Jordan Ayew, Patson Daka, Julián Carranza (loan)

We’ve signed a striker! (On loan, admittedly, but with an option to buy). The new man is Argentine Julián Carranza, swapping Feyenoord and the Eredivisie for Leicester and the Championship. His record in the Netherlands’ top league wasn’t spectacular last season (21 games, 4 goals) but he did score a famous header in the Champions League at the San Siro to knock out AC Milan and win the Feyenoord goal of the season. His previous numbers in the MLS, arguably a similar standard to the Championship, look pretty good though.

Carranza is an exciting, if somewhat unknown, quantity in an area of the pitch where we had to make a signing.

Jordan Ayew has performed well in spells, but he’s only ever hit double figures for goals in a season once in his career. While he has shown some good qualities, the inconsistent nature of his ability to move around the pitch, over 90 minutes let alone 46 games, meant that he needed some help up front. Ayew is the perfect sub. With Carranza coming in, alongside the additions in midfield, Ayew as the ‘finisher’ from the bench should continue to play an important role as the season progresses.

Patson Daka, meanwhile, has scored 1 goal in his last 44 appearances, and his game time quite rightly looks limited. Yes, he can press, but it’s irrelevant when he’s unable to do anything if he wins it back. He used to miss chances. Sadly, he no longer even gets into a position to miss them. In a 2025 summer infamous for players across leagues ‘forcing’ moves, it’s a pretty sad reflection on him that he appears content to see out his contract. The club reportedly wanting a ludicrous £10m for him hasn’t helped either.

Summary

After the hierarchy belatedly woke up to the fact that we needed to refresh the squad, we do actually look in decent shape. With the increasingly popular Martí Cifuentes in charge, there is a sense of optimism for the first time in a while amongst a lot of the fan base.

While there are still a number of players where it would have been preferable if we’d moved them on, the team should be a “young and hungry” (mostly) one from here on in. As fans we have a responsibility to rally behind them.

There’s still no doubt that changes in the boardroom are needed for us to successfully progress back to where we want to be in the Premier League, but initially at least, there’s nothing to be gained during games by berating the board every time something goes against us.

This ‘new’ football team needs a vociferous crowd behind them. Perhaps Preston away, and the reaction that went with it, has stirred the club into action and created a red line the players mustn’t cross. The team for the next game at Oxford, and beyond, needs our support.

So, back to the question of What Happens Next?

This squad doesn’t have the proven qualities of the 2023/24 squad, but with a more experienced manager in Martí (than Enzo was back then) and a high ceiling for a lot of young players, there is hope we can challenge for automatic promotion.

As ever with Leicester City, it’s not as simple as that. With the club still facing charges from the Premier League and/or EFL, the great unknown is how that will play out. What is certain is that the sooner we conclude it, the better. You have to feel that the nearer the end of the season we get, the more malicious the penalty could be?

Is that A Question of Sport? Let’s ask team captain Nick De Marco KC…