Dennis Praet is Leicester City’s Swiss Army knife and we need to keep him up our sleeve
What do Andrej Kramaric and Dennis Praet have in common, I hear you ask? OK, you didn't ask, but I'm going to tell you anyway.
Praet and Kramaric are entirely different players but there are similarities in their circumstances and unrealised possibilities. Kramaric was signed for what would have been seen as more money at the time (we’ve come a long way even since 2015) and strikers always seem to carry a greater weight of expectation, but he wasn’t exactly rushed or welcomed into the side.
Much like Praet, on paper, the Croatian seemed a good fit for us, but Nigel Pearson seemed reluctant to give him a lot of actual match time, a la Brendan Rodgers with Praet.
It’s not you, it’s Leicester City
When people use the phrase ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ in dating, it’s probably a well-meaning lie. With Kramaric and Leicester, it was true. He was prolific before us and has been impressive since. We weren’t playing the type of football that necessarily suited him and he was never going to get ahead of Jamie Vardy.
But he’s been very effective and popular at Hoffenheim and the Bundesliga isn’t a step down from the Premier League. There’s also a sense of ‘what if’ with Kramaric and I’d be loath to see the Dennis Praet story end the same way, watching him orchestrate the play elsewhere.
While all the signs last season suggested that Praet was on the same trajectory, there's still time for Leicester to correct that course. Praet has featured more in pre-season than expected and it’s been teasing to see that passing and press potential again.
While the club may still want to offload him, they appear to have scared away several teams with an unmoving transfer fee and probably a nervousness about having a gaping hole if we are still to lose Youri Tielemans late in the window.
You always need a Plan C
Take Tielemans out of the equation though because Praet is exactly the type of player we should be utilising more, regardless of whether his compatriot stays or goes. Our own style of play, and the personnel, has changed since we signed him in 2019 and if anything, it makes more sense to use him now than it did then.
Seeing how he works alongside the likes of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and the options he offers among our box-to-box players feels like a no-brainer. There’s something a little different about him too. We know what Plan A and possibly even B looks like for Brendan Rodgers, but Praet could be part of an untapped Plan C.
His strengths are clear - an eye for a pass, a good first touch, a physicality that means he’s comfortable getting stuck in and a determination to press and hassle that oftens sees him dispossess his opponent. He’s been a master in pre-season at not only doing that but turning that possession into an output, be it assist or build-up to a goal. It’s the type of thing that fans love and invaluable for those who prefer to craft their magic further up the pitch.
We’ve only had glimpses of it in this pre-season but sign me up for more of the budding Praet-Daka partnership we’ve seen so far. It feels like a season that should see more opportunities for Daka up front and Praet already seems to have an eye for working with him. They teamed up for a goal against Hull and, while a very different move, combined again against Sevilla with reactive goalkeeping the only thing that denied Daka a goal.
Mr Versatile
Both games used Praet in different positions too, underlining his versatility and willingness to play pretty much anywhere. While I’d prefer for him not to have to fill in for Harvey Barnes, he’s shown us he’s capable of slotting in down the left and putting in crosses. He can occupy the right flank too, based on how well he was performing there at Stoke in January 2021 before an untimely injury. Given his best position is arguably more the traditional attacking midfielder role, you can see why he’s a different tool on the Foxes’ Swiss Army knife.
Praet’s been unlucky in the sense that on both times that he’s come into the Leicester side and impressed with more regularity, his run has been cut short by injuries and then struggling to get back in when he’s returned to full fitness. Similar to Kramaric never getting ahead of Vardy, Praet’s own equivalent (to date) may be Tielemans. However, Praet is able to offer us something a little different and you don’t have to pick between one or the other.
We relish players who can slot into two or three positions and have hard-working characteristics. Add in his ability to hit a ball sweetly and while Dennis Praet may not be the flashy type of midfielder that grabs the headlines, he’s exactly the type of midfielder that Leicester City need.
Alongside Dewsbury-Hall, there’s something pleasingly old-fashioned in the way Praet looks on a football pitch - no frills but a lot of effort and skill. Without regular playing time though, Praet’s chances of playing for Belgium in Qatar are diminishing so while it would be hard to blame him for pushing to leave elsewhere to be a regular starter, it would be incredibly disappointing if we don’t find a way for that to be at Leicester City.