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Liverpool starlet features for Leicester City as King Power make double manager decision

Leicester City have seen some of their best prospects poached by the country’s biggest clubs in recent seasons, with Trey Nyoni making strides at Liverpool and Tyrese Noubissie now at Manchester City.

But it’s not unusual for [City](https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/all-about/leicester-city-fc) to pick up academy talents from those sides either. They’ve had Chris Popov and Jahmari Lindsay join from Manchester United, Amani Richards from Arsenal and Silko Thomas from Chelsea to name a few in recent years.

And now they’re taking a look at another. Liverpool right-back Keehan Barret-Underwood played half-hour for City’s Under-18s in a 2-0 defeat to Tottenham a couple of weeks ago, as it looks like he has turned down an opportunity to continue his career on Merseyside.

Barret-Underwood’s appearance for City came just a few days after he had been in Florida after a call-up to the USA Under-17s training camp. He has previously represented England’s youth teams but appears to have switched allegiances and it could see him play at next year’s Under-17s World Cup.

**Double manager change for King Power**

It’s not just at City where King Power have changed their manager. Just two days before Steve Cooper was dismissed, Oscar Garcia was sacked by OH Leuven.

Like with [Ruud van Nistelrooy](https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/all-about/ruud-van-nistelrooy) at City, a replacement has quickly been found in former Wales boss Chris Coleman. He’s not yet on the touchline as he awaits a work permit, but his presence has led to an upturn in form already, with Leuven claiming a draw with Anderlecht at the weekend and then a 5-0 victory over Zulte Waregem in midweek to send them into the quarter-finals of the Belgian Cup.

It’s been a peculiar season for Leuven. They’ve only lost four of their 16 league fixtures, just one more than table-toppers Genk, but they’ve only won three, as they’ve become the division’s draw specialists. It leaves them 13th in the table and currently in the four-team relegation play-off places.

Despite their current predicament, qualifying for Europe is the long-term aim, Coleman has outlined. He said: “I can’t see why we cannot reach the top six. I am used to fighting against relegation and rebuilding clubs, but OHL is in the most 'healthy' situation I have ever known in my coaching career.

“I want to bring the club to safety as soon as possible. We have the core to be higher in the rankings, but we also have to look behind us. It will not be easy.”

**Marcal finally gets his debut**

It’s taken more than three months but Wanya Marcal has finally made his debut on loan at De Graafschap. An injury in training not long after signing up for the Dutch side saw him back at City for rehab, but he’s fit again and in the team.

He came on for the final half-hour in the weekend’s 3-1 victory over VVV-Venlo, a result that leaves De Graafschap third in the second-tier Eerste Divisie, one point off the automatic promotion spots. The winger will hope to get the first start of his loan against Ajax U21s on Monday night.

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