George Taft is one of a number of players who have been capped at international youth levels in his time at Leicester, having played 6 times in total for England u18 and u19, never to see any first team football at the club. The tall central defender left Leicester without being tested at first team level, moving to Burton Albion in 2014. Taft became a journey man in the lower leagues, representing clubs such as Mansfield, Scunthorpe, Bolton and Cambridge, before taking the step into non-league action, before the age of 30.
Luke O’Neill was another player from this period in time that was being touted to become a top quality defender at the club, he has 2 caps for the England u.17 team. O’Neill is one of the one league game wonders to have played for Leicester, making that single first team appearance coming in a game vs. Sheffield United back in 2009. He made his move away in 2011, moving to Mansfield. He has later played for a number of clubs such as Burnley, Southend, Gillingham, Wimbledon. The journey man is today at the age of 33 still listed as a player for Ebsfleet, joining back in 2022.
The next player to mention is defender Darnell Johnson. He represented England from u.16 to u.20, having played 21 youth international games, but was never given a full league debut at Leicester. The godson of Emile Heskey was on the fringe at times, being named on the bench as well as playing in pre-season friendlies. After leaving Leicester in 2021 he did not really managed to settle in at either Forest Green Rovers or Fleetwood, and at this point having no club, being a free agent. Leicester born and sadly at the age of 26, struggling to get any sort of momentum in his football career.
Elliott Moore is today the captain of Championship side Oxford, so his life in football is far from negative, but still being sold on before making a single first team appearance at Leicester. He showed great promise while on loan at OH Leuven, but still no one really had the belief he could turn into a top Premier League defender. Moore represented England at u.18 and u.20 level.
Defender Liam Moore played 59 league games for Leicester from 2011 to 2016, spending a number of periods out on loan, and during this time also an England u.21 international. He was in the Leicester squad when promoted to the Premier League, but instead of taking the step into that action, he was sold back to the Championship, Reading paying £1,5million for his services. Moore later represented Jamaica at full international level on 9 occasions.
Tom Parkes was also very much talked up as a potential new central defender of dimentions, being capped 18 times at England u.17 level, while at Leicester. Parkes never appeared for Leicester in league football, being sold for an undisclosed fee to Bristol Rovers in 2012. He became an important player for The Pirates during his 4 years at the club, playing 161 league games during this time. He later had spells at Leyton Orient, Carlisle, Exeter, Livingston and at present playing for Hartlepool.
Another player to have played for Hartlepool is current goalkeeper Brad Young, at present back on loan at Pools. Young has represented England at youth level, but still at the age of 22, possibly far from a full debut, being number 5 in the order of goalkeepers at the club at present. He has not yet made his full league debut for Leicester.
Joe Dodoo was part of the set up during the 5000/1 season, playing one game, but he never really cought the eye of anyone at this club, despite scoring a hat trick in the Carabao Cup and showing great promise. Dodoo made a move to Rangers in 2016, possibly hoping for his big breakthrough, but it looked difficult, playing 20 league games and scoring 3 goals, before returning to England and sign for Bolton. He later had spells at Ankara Keçiörengücü, Wigan, Doncaster and Burton, but injury challenges has in real cut his career short, as the England u.18 international at the age of 29 looks to have a challenge to continue a career in football.
Leicester have, Sammy Braybrooke, Amani Richards and Silko Thomas out on loan this season. All three are England internationals at youth level, but at this point not near any type of breakthrough at the highest level, being loaned out to Dundee (SB), Exeter (AR) and Wigan (ST). Richards was recently called back to Leicester to potentially help the u.21 to get a few good results and climb the Premier League 2 table.
Another player currently showing promise, but still in a bit of hurry to get some sort of first team look in is Will Alves. Still only 19, as he has carefully been given games now and then, being first introduced to first team football as far back as January 2022, coming on as a sub in the FA Cup vs. Watford. Just a few weeks after his debut he had a difficult injury, setting him back being out almost a year. He has been capped at different England youth levels, recent been playing for England u.20, playing 3 games, scoring 1 goal back in 2024. We certainly hope he will get the chances needed to grow into a top player for this football club.
Of the current group of youth players at the club, Louis Page is in the England u.17 set up, last called up for the international vs. Belgium in November last year. Page is a midfielder and one to watch. We had thought Michael Golding would have had some sort of impact this season, but the 18 year old midfielder has yet to be involved since joining from Chelsea in the summer. Golding has been representing England at u.16, u.17 and u.18 level.
A player talked about is 15 year old Jeremy Monga. Monga has been eyed by many and expected to be on the move soon as he looks to follow Trey Nyoni, who left Leicester to join Liverpool, and has since made his debut for the first team and looks one to become a regular at Anfield in the very near future. The job for Leicester is to convince these talents to not jump ship at an early age, but stay on and become first team regulars at the club as they can build on a future somewhere else when the time is right and you get some sort of compensations.
Looking back local Leicester talent nursed forward by the club and being sold for substantial fees are many, as they made their mark in the first team for a number of seasons. David Nish, Peter Shilton, Gary Lineker, Emile Heskey, Ben Chilwell and Harvey Barnes are in this category, all of the in the England frame before moving on to a new club. That is and will always be the DNA of a football club the size of Leicester, breaking that formula will always get you in trouble.
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