The academy graduates City may have released too soon
LEICESTER City are well known for the productivity of their academy, writes Luke Pawley.
But while Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is the latest to earn a place alongside the likes of Harvey Barnes and Luke Thomas in Brendan Rodgers’ set-up, some players who did not make the cut at the time can be classed as ones that got away.
Here are six players Leicester City might have passed on too soon:
IVAN TONEY
Brentford striker Toney was released by Leicester at the age of 16.
He was signed by Northampton Town, where he broke into the first team and made 53 appearances in two seasons in League Two.
That earned him a move to Premier League Newcastle United, where he spent three seasons on loan in League One, scoring 49 goals in 94 games for Peterborough United and catching the eye of current club Brentford.
Last season, he scored 31 goals in 45 Championship games helping the Bees to reach the Premier League, where he has already opened his goalscoring account.
Last season, Ivan Toney scored 31 goals in 45 Championship games helping the Bees to reach the top flight
CHE ADAMS
Leicester City turned down the chance to sign Adams “four or five times” when he was a youngster.
The forward started out with Oadby Owls before being picked up by Coventry City after Leicester passed on him at the tender age of eight.
Leicester monitored his progress right up until his under-16 year, but again decided against signing him.
“The first time would have been before Coventry, so under-eights, and it was until under-16s – that would have been my last go,” Adams told the Guardian in July 2019. “Leicester was the closest team to us, so it was always a dream to play for them.”
CEDRIC KIPRE
Leicester picked up the central defender when he was released by Paris Saint-Germain aged 17.
He stayed for three years, turning out for the under-18s and under23s, but was released in 2017 without making a senior appearance.
The season after his release, he played 36 games in the Scottish Premiership for Motherwell, which earned him a move to Championship side Wigan Athletic.
It was his run of 74 appearances across the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons which caught the eye of Premier League side West Brom.
Things have since stalled for Kipre, but the 24-year-old still has the potential to go far in the game and is likely to go on and play in the Premier League.
SAM CLUCAS
Released in 2008 when he was 16, Clucas, now 30, has spent most of his career in the Championship.
It remains to be seen what could have happened if he had stayed at Leicester. He may well have broken into the first team and played a key part in Leicester’s journey in the Championship and Premier League – very much like club legend Andy King went on to do.
ELLIS CHAPMAN
The central midfielder signed on a scholarship deal from Lincoln City in 2016 and returned to his boyhood club the following year.
Chapman did well at Leicester, but has flourished particularly since moving back to Sincil Bank.
He broke into the first team there and made 31 appearances – five of them in League Two and 11 in
League One – and made 22 appearances for Cheltenham Town in League Two last season after making a permanent switch in the summer of 2020.
TOM BLOXHAM
The most recent of these players who have left City, the 17-year-old forward was let go at 14 and went on to play grassroots football with Aylestone Park before being picked up by League One Shrewsbury Town.
Bloxham has just broken into their first team and is currently on duty with England under-17s.
Standing at 6ft 5in, Bloxham has scored once in his first five appearances for Shrewsbury.
SIX WHO MADE IMPACT AFTER BEING LET GO