Last season was a catastrophic one for Leicester City. The Foxes had their worst season since earning promotion to the Premier League in 2014 and it culminated in their relegation from English top-flight football. Their time in the Premier League peaked in 2016 when they miraculously won the league. They finished with 81 points that season; 10 points clear of second-placed Arsenal who had 71 points. Ever since then, the expectations for Leicester City have been quite high. They were certainly more than just a mid-table team and they went on to win the community shield and the FA Cup trophy in 2021.
The club has suffered a steady decline since losing most of its players from their title-winning season and it finally came to a head last season. They began the season with seven defeats in the first 10 matches. A string of bad performances left them In the bottom three of the Premier League and even changing their manager mid season was not enough to save them. Manager Brendan Rodgers left the club by mutual consent and was replaced by Dean Smith in interim. They finished the season at 18th position with a measly 34 points from 38 games. They lost 22 games, drew seven and only managed to win nine and were promptly relegated along with Leeds United and Southampton.
Relegation caused them to lose some of their best players to other Premier League teams; James Maddison left to Tottenham while Youri Tielemans joined Aston Villa but some key members stayed with the club. Jamie Vardy, and the Nigerian duo of Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi stayed with the club and played in the EFL championship for the 2023/2024 season to help the club win the competition and secure their promotion back to the Premier League.
Ndidi and Iheanacho were some of the best performing Nigerians in the Premier League before their relegation so their promotion now is a net positive for them and their national team. Iheanacho who plays as a striker contributed five goals and one assist in 23 championship matches while Ndidi scored four goals and made five assists in 32 matches despite playing as a deep lying midfielder to help Leicester win the title and earn the promotion.
Both Ndidi and Iheanacho have been with the club since 2017. Iheanacho was signed from Manchester City as a back up striker to Jamie Vardy for £25m in 2017. His time at Leicester peaked in 2021 when a string of unfortunate injuries for Leicester made the club turn to him as their main striker. He then went on a goal scoring run of 12 goals in 10 matches and won the Premier League Player of the Month award in March 2021. He was also Leicester’s Player of the Year last season even though they ended up getting relegated. His impact in the team though unexpected cannot be denied.
Ndidi was signed from Genk and has held down the defensive midfielder position for Leicester ever since only missing some games due to injury. This season he has contributed four goals and five assists to Leicester’s championship campaign to see them return to the Premier League.
Leicester finished the 2023/2024 season with 97 points from 46 games in the EFL edging out Ipswich touch by one point to the trophy. Credit for their performance goes to the new manager Enzo Maresca and the players, especially those who stayed with the club even after relegation.
They are in form and look ready for the Premier League again. It will be quite a sight for Premier League, especially Nigerians fans to have some of their favorite Nigerians playing in the top flight English football next season. What do you think of Iheanacho and Ndidi’s return to the Premier League? How well do you think Leicester will perform in the league this time?