Ruud Van Nistlerooy has recently revealed that Leicester City will look towards the academy amid an injury-stricken midfield. It now looks like Henry Cartwright, Jayden Joseph and Jeremy Monga are the next youngsters to break into the first team.
Leicester City To Use Academy Talents
Youngsters Tipped To Join The First Team
At his press conference on Thursday afternoon ahead of the Foxes’ away visit to Newcastle, Van Nistlerooy had glowing praise for the club’s next generation. The game against Newcastle was the Dutchman’s first away outing. His side was convincingly dismantled by four goals to nil, mostly because a focal point of his side was sidelined.
So far the Dutchman has favoured a double pivot of Wilfred Ndidi and Boubakary Soumaré, with the duo being prevalent against West Ham and Brighton. The draw against Brighton saw Ndidi forced off after 52 minutes, whilst his midfield partner was booked and earned a suspension after hitting the five-yellow card threshold.
In addition, Harry Winks was also left out due to his injury in the Chelsea game earlier last month, which left somewhat of an injury crisis as Hamza Choudhury and Oliver Skipp are the only first-team options available. The duo struggled tremendously on Saturday afternoon and highlighted the need to strengthen depth.
As a result, the Former PSV academy coach seems to be looking at the academy options at his disposal. During the press conference:
“It’s something we have to be prepared for. We have options for players who don’t regularly play there but might have to play there. Also players from the Under-21s to see how players like Henry can do and if he can do a job.”
“It’s a continuous process. The way it’s organised in the club, I like it, the way everybody is preparing different possibilities. It’s whether we want to go for these options. We’re looking at different positions to prepare ourselves, but I’m also looking at the current players and the Under-21s. There’s young JJ (Jayden Joseph), there’s Henry. I have a good picture of what is needed in the window.”
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when Speaking last week, Van Nistlerooyhad this to say about the academy
‘I see many under-21s and under-18s and we’ve even had an under-16 player in this week’s training group, Jeremy. We see many and I like that, that we get to see the talents of the under-21s and under-18s.’
Who are Leicester City’s Academy talents?
Henry Cartwright
20-year-old Henry Cartwright has been an instrumental figure of the under-21s side this season. The midfielder is a similar profile to Harry Winks as he drops deep, looks to dictate the tempo and retain the ball.
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Cartwright is mature for his age and could be a good-short term replacement to the injured Winks. When playing against the first-teams of Northampton and Notts County, the holding midfielder impressed with his passing ability from deep and progressive carrying being his stand out abilities. A step forward for the youngster was seen over the weekend as he made the bench for the first time.
Jayden Joseph
Joseph is a versatile option, who has also excelled for the Foxes this campaign. The 19-year-old can play both sides as a full-back and winger, which makes him the perfect option for this system.
Viktor Kristiansen has regularly played in left-back for the senior squad and has progressed from full-back to act as a winger when in possession to create a 3-2-4-1. This is similar to what Joseph has done for the academy team as it allows him to utilise his strength in forward areas and add the discipline to track back.
Similar to Cartwright, he was also a standout for the academy when they played the senior teams in the EFL Trophy. He caused issues of the left and right with his crosses and runs being a threat all night. The full-back also travelled with the first team to Newcastle, which shows his manager is clearly keen to incorporate him.
His opportunities for game time has only heightened given the poor performances from James Justin and Viktor Kristiansen as they lost possession 28 times combined.
Jeremy Monga
The final player to be mentioned was Jeremy Monga. The 15-year-old winger has been a revelation for the Under-21s side after progressing through the other age groups imminently.
Monga is a direct winger with the pace, technical ability and skill that sets him aside from a lot of the other talents in the squad. He is both-footed and likes to cut in, which makes him unpredictable and leaves most defenders struggling to contain him.
Despite his age, the attacker seemed to adapt well when playing against senior professionals and players older than him. He has even been linked to a move to Chelsea and Manchester City, which shows how highly-rated he is.
Overall, Van Nistlerooy seems eager to incorporate the academy into his plans before being active on the transfer market. This is a refreshing change given Steve Cooper’s reluctance to include academy players as some talents discussed may feature in future matchday squads as they did this past weekend.