Leicester City might've hit unseen jackpot with £7.5m deal: View | OneFootball

Leicester City took a big step forward to promotion on Tuesday night as they comfortably beat Southampton 5-0 at the King Power Stadium.

The Foxes’ form has taken a bit of a hit in recent weeks, but Enzo Maresca has now managed to turn that back around, with the club winning three of their last five games.

That has resulted in Leicester going back to the top of the league, four clear of current second-place Leeds United and five ahead of Ipswich Town, who do have a game in hand against Coventry City.

Leicester know that if they win their last two games, they will not only be promoted, but they will also be Championship title winners.

Maresca has had pressure on him to get this club out of the league, given the fact that they have a wealth of options and experience in the squad. But not all of these players have played such a key role for the Foxes, as Conor Coady was brought in for big money in the summer but has had to play a small role.

Leicester City being relegated from the Premier League last season meant there were a lot of changes around the club last summer.

Enzo Maresca was brought in and given the task of getting the club back into the top flight. So, the Italian brought in several new players, and one of those arrivals was Conor Coady.

Coady started his fascinating career at Liverpool, but it soon became clear that he needed to leave there to play regular football.

The 31-year-old joined Huddersfield Town, and it was there that he emerged on the radars of a few clubs, but Wolves were the ones who secured his signature.

Coady stayed with Wolves until this summer, as he lost his place in their first team and had spent the previous campaign on loan at Everton.

So, the defender had to drop into the Championship, but he didn’t come cheap as Leicester forked out £7.5 million to secure his services, which wasn’t too bad given it wasn’t long ago when he was playing for England.

Many would have expected the defender to come in and be a key player for the Foxes, but that has happened, with Coady being restricted to sub appearances and rare starts here and there.

However, he may not have hit the heights as expected, but he could be looked at as an unseen jackpot, given the experience he has brought to the club.

Leicester may have hit an unseen jackpot with the Conor Coady deal

As mentioned, when Leicester City were relegated last season, it was expected there would be a lot of changes to the playing squad.

That was the case, as some big-name players departed, and they were replaced by players that were deemed good enough by Maresca.

The Foxes were very light in central defence ahead of this summer, so the Leicester boss made sure they brought in individuals who could strengthen that area.

That is exactly what they did with securing the signature of Conor Coady, as he was a player who was facing a strange situation, as Everton didn’t want to make his loan move into a permanent switch and Wolves were keen to move the player on.

So, Coady soon found himself dropping into the Championship and joining Leicester, where it was expected that the defender would be a regular starter.

However, it hasn’t quite worked out like that, as with two games left to play in the league, Coady has appeared in just 11 Championship games, totalling just 607 minutes of football, as per Transfermarkt.

In those 11 appearances, seven have come as starts, with him averaging around 56 minutes of football per game.

In those limited appearances, Coady has an accurate pass rate of 53.5 (94%), touching the ball an impressive 62.5 times, and has collected 0.1 key passes.

But in defence, Coady has shown why he was brought in, as he’s averaged 0.6 interceptions as well as 0.5 tackles and has only been dribbled past an impressive 0.1 times per game. Despite the limited games, Coady is operating at a very good level, as he’s got a Sofascore statistical average rating of 7.01.

It will have been frustrating for Coady to be limited to just 11 games in the Championship, and while many fans will think his signing has been disappointing, his importance cannot be underestimated.

Maresca has called upon the player several times to lean on his experience and know-how of the Championship and English football, and if they do seal promotion back to the Premier League, he will likely do so once again next season.

So, while he hasn’t played as much, Leicester bringing Coady in for £7.5 million is an unseen jackpot, and one that, if the club do get over the line, he will have helped them do so, despite not featuring much.