Predicting Leicester City's starting line-up for the Premier League | OneFootball

Highlights

Leicester City are flying in the Championship and an immediate return to the Premier League already looks like a dead cert.

Relegated at the backend of the 2022/23 season, the Foxes endured a gigantic overhaul in the off-season, with plenty of big-name players leaving the King Power Stadium. The likes of Harvey Barnes, Youri Tielemans and starman James Maddison all departed the club during the summer, as new manager Enzo Maresca set about building a side challenging for promotion.

Maresca, who was fresh off winning the treble with Manchester City as Pep Guardiola's assistant the season prior, has transformed the feeling around Leicester, turning them into favourites to win the Championship title.

And with Leicester enjoying a stellar first half of the campaign, attention has already switched towards what they're squad might look like next season. With that in mind, GIVEMESPORT have predicted Leicester's starting 11 for the 2024/25 Premier League campaign.

GK - Mads Hermansen

Not only is Mads Hermansen likely to be Leicester's goalkeeper next season, there is every chance he is going to be the man between their sticks for the next five years and beyond.

The Danish under-21 international put pen to paper on a move to the East Midlands for a reported fee of around £5 million in the summer transfer window and has proved an instant success under Maresca.

Starting in all but one of the Foxes' first 14 league matches of the season, Hermansen will be a lock in the Leicester side for their first season back in the Premier League, should they see promotion across the line.

RB - Aaron Wan-Bissaka

Perhaps a surprise pick for this side, as Aaron Wan-Bissaka is currently under contract at Champions League outfit Manchester United, the right-back could be a shock signing for Leicester in the 2024 summer transfer window.

That's because the right-back currently has less than 12 months left on his existing deal at Old Trafford, which is due to expire at the end of the current campaign. Talk of a new contract has gone quiet in recent weeks, with the suggestion that United will instead opt to activate the mandatory one-year extension already inserted into his deal.

And with talk of Wan-Bissaka leaving Old Trafford having dominated the back pages during the previous summer transfer window, there is every chance the former Crystal Palace man could decide to leave the club ahead of the 2024/25 season.

CB - Wout Faes

Another one of the current Leicester crop now, Faes might've expected to leave Leicester following their relegation, but the Belgian international is very much still part of the furniture at the King Power Stadium.

Having joined for a modest £15 million during the summer 2023 window, Faes was billed as the player to come in and replace the departing Wesley Fofana, who joined Chelsea for an eye-watering £75 million.

While he has shown signs of shakiness during his close to two-year stint with the club, at just 25 years old, Faes is another player who could be a fixture in the Leicester starting-11 for many years to come.

CB - Jannik Vestergaard

Sliding in next to Faes as his centre-back partner, Jannik Vestergaard will be hard done by if he isn't lining up in the Leicester starting-11 next season.

Having been at the club since 2021, the Danish defender has been playing some of his best football this season, marshalling a Leicester backline which boasts one of the division's best defences.

In their first 14 matches of the campaign, Leicester conceded just eight goals, with Vestergaard registering an impressive WhoScored rating during that time. Of his maiden 13 outings for the 2015/16 Premier League winners, Vestergaard averaged an impressive score of 7.17 - the second-highest in the Leicester squad.

LB - Callum Doyle

Now for a player who is currently at Leicester, but as things stand, will be leaving the club at the end of the season. Callum Doyle had arrived from Man City on a season-long loan and immediately established himself as one of the first names on the teamsheet.

However, much to the dismay of Doyle and the Leicester fans, the left-footed defender suffered a nasty injury which is set to keep him out of the side for four months.

A player with plenty of promise, it wouldn't be much of a shock to see Doyle return to Leicester, be that on loan or permanently next season, with Maresca clearly a fan of the England under-21 star.

CM - Harry Winks

One of the signings of the season, not just in the Championship, but throughout the entire English pyramid; Harry Winks has proved a steal for Maresca's promotion-chasing Foxes and is a sure-fire bet to start for the club in the Premier League next season.

Granted, Leicester did have to spend a pretty penny to bring the former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder to the club, with Winks costing a reported fee of £10 million.

But it's a move that has proven worthwhile so far, with Winks playing in all of Leicester's first 14 league matches of the season, even scoring a wonderful last-gasp winner during their October 2023 clash against Queens Park Rangers.

CM - Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall

In truth, the only thing that will stop Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall being in the Leicester starting-11 next season will be if the midfielder decides to pack his bags and leave the club before then.

The Leicester-born midfielder has been one of the standout players in the club's season so far, popping up with goals and assist, as the 2020/21 FA Cup winners romped to the top of the Championship table.

Should Dewsbury-Hall depart Leicester before the start of next season, it's likely they'll pocket a healthy fee for his signature, given he's valued as the most expensive player in the squad.

CM - James McAtee

Another Man City academy graduate, James McAtee could be an option for Leicester in the summer transfer window, with Maresca using his connections with the treble-winners to snatch the talented starlet away from the Etihad Stadium.

Currently on loan with Premier League strugglers Sheffield United, McAtee is playing in a side that doesn't suit his free-slowing creative style. That wouldn't be the case at Leicester, as McAtee could be handed the freedom of the Foxes' midfield under a manager he already knows well.

McAtee is under contract at City until the end of the 2025/26 season, but as he's unlikely to break into the first team anytime soon, a window of opportunity could open for a club like Leicester.

RW - Noni Madueke

Currently part of Mauricio Pochettino's Chelsea squad, Noni Madueke is our surprise pick for right-wing, such has been his disappointing start to life with the Premier League outfit.

Joining as part of Todd Boehly's huge spending spree during the 2023 January transfer window, Madueke had joined Chelsea from Dutch side PSV Eindhoven for around £29 million, with the transfer attracting plenty of optimism at the time. It hasn't worked out for him so far and the winger was even subject to a public dressing down from Pochettino earlier in the season.

While a permanent transfer to Leicester is likely out of the question, there could be a slim chance Chelsea look to loan the attacker out, with the King Power Stadium likely to be a suitable destination for Madueke.

LW - Stephy Mavididi

Another example of Leicester's impressive recruitment in the summer transfer market, the Foxes made the footballing world sit up and take notes when they shrugged off outside competition for the signature of attacker Stephy Mavididi.

Capable of playing multiple positions across the frontline, Mavididi slots into this time as a left-winger, where he has been used to devastating effect for Leicester this season in their hunt for promotion back to the Premier League.

Of his first 14 matches in the league for Leicester, the former Arsenal forward registered a combined total of six goals and assist, which almost equates to one contribution every other game.

ST - Dominic Calvert-Lewin

Leicester have plenty of strong strikers already on their roster, but upon return to the Premier League, there's every chance they could look to sign a proven top-flight goalscorer, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin a potential pick for the Foxes.

Now, this is probably the most fanciful pick for this list, given it would likely take Everton getting relegated for Calvert-Lewin to even leave the Toffees. But as the Merseyside outfit are currently struggling towards the foot of the Premier League table, it isn't out of the question they'll be dragged down into the bottom three.

Should that happen, Leicester could pounce and sign Calvert-Lewin, with the England international suited to the way Leicester will be looking to play under Maresca.