A look at how Leicester City would line up if they fielded a team that only contained academy graduates, with Max Gradel, Calvin Bassey, Josh Knight, and more selected
Leicester City have enjoyed great success in recent years at bringing through players from their academy into the first team, with the likes of Ben Chilwell, Harvey Barnes, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall going on to be come regulars. They have an excellent group of prospects coming through the ranks now too.
It wasn’t always this way, but strides have been made over the past decade or so. It means that there’s a healthy number of City academy graduates plying their trade around the Premier League and EFL, and around Europe too.
As a little experiment, we’ve put together what may be the best line-up that only includes City academy graduates. You can let us know your thoughts on the squad, and where in the English league ladder they might be competing, in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
GK: Jakub Stolarczyk (Leicester City)
Joining from his native Poland aged 16, Stolarczyk has worked his way up the City ranks and after a couple of loan spells at Dunfermline and Hartlepool where he made a big impact, Enzo Maresca made him Mads Hermansen’s number two. In his few outings last season, he looked a more-than-capable goalkeeper, especially with his gloves, the 23-year-old pulling off some excellent saves.
RB: Josh Knight (Hannover 96)
After becoming a fan favourite on loan at Peterborough, it was to London Road that Knight travelled when his City career ended in 2021 with just one senior appearance to his name. This summer, the tough-tackling Fleckney-born defender made a surprise move to Hannover in the German second tier and he’s now competing for promotion to the Bundesliga. While primarily a centre-back, he played right-back on occasion when coming through the ranks at City, so that’s where he fits in our academy team.
CB: Ben Nelson (Oxford United, on loan from Leicester City)
Long heralded as a star of the future, Nelson is now beginning to realise his promise. He was 16 when he first featured on the City bench, having been in the academy since he was a kid, and now 20, he should get plenty of game-time on loan at Oxford to show his qualities as a ball-playing centre-back.
