Leicester: Maresca might bring in a great youth talent to take Vardy’s position.
From their academy, Leicester City might have discovered their next jewel.
As they prepare to make a push for promotion, Leicester City may have strengthened well this summer, but their most significant investment was upgrading the academy’s infrastructure.
The Foxes’ magnificent £100 million training facility, which includes 21 training facilities, 14 full-size training pitches, and a 499-seater pitch for minor team games, was unveiled in 2020.
The goal of this investment is to identify the most promising young players and find the successors to Ben Chilwell, Harvey Barnes, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, the academy’s most successful recent graduates. The former two earned lucrative transfers to Chelsea and Newcastle, while Dewsbury-Hall is currently an essential component of Enzo Maresca’s successful team.
The newest academy star to emerge this year was Kasey McAteer, who for the Foxes was a revelation down the right wing, scoring three goals in four Championship games.
Amani Richards, a forward, is attempting to follow in the footsteps of McAteer, who is now one of the most promising young players in the second division.
Amani Richards: who is she?
Richards may just be 18 years old, but he is already establishing a reputation in the Midlands for his daring attacking performances for the youth teams.
In January 2022, the talented child was kidnapped from Arsenal’s youth system, and the Gunners may come to regret their decision to let him go.
Richards, who can play as a striker or down the right side, emerged as one of the most intriguing young prospects in the U18s system after contributing to an astounding 24 goals in 36 games. After making the jump to the U2s this season, Richards has continued this success.
Even in their U18 match against Arsenal in March, he returned to haunt his former team, scoring both goals for the Foxes in a 2-1 victory while scouts from Newcastle and Brentford watched the brilliant kid and would have been in awe of his abilities.
After starting his U21 season with one goal and three assists in his first four outings, the youthful phenom is attracting interest from a wide range of clubs, and that interest is only going to grow.
Given his high ceiling and Leicester’s desire to extend his contract, which is now set to expire in 2024, he is a player they simply cannot afford to lose.
What Leicester personnel could Richards replace?
In place of the ineffective Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho, Leicester’s attacking output has primarily come from wide areas this season, with wingers McAteer and Stephy Mavididi scoring five goals between them.
Vardy scored his first Championship goal of the season in the opening 21 seconds of the match against Southampton, but given that the Englishman’s production has been progressively declining in recent years, Maresca may soon need to find a replacement.
After reaching double digits for goals in eight of the previous nine seasons and winning the Golden Boot in the 2019–20 campaign, the 36-year-old only managed three goals in the top tier last term, which is a gauge for how swiftly he’s fallen from the height of his powers.
Vardy is towards the end of his career, therefore someone else needs to fill in for him and, based on Iheanacho’s performances this year, he isn’t going to score the goals Leicester need.
Instead, Maresca may go to his academy and find the talented and exciting Richards, giving his team the much-needed baptism of fire in the manner of McAteer.
