£0 fee, endless value: Leicester City picked Aston Villa’s pockets and hit the jackpot | OneFootball

Leicester City pulled off a blinder with the signing of Marc Albrighton on a free transfer from Aston Villa in the summer of 2014.

Between 2014 and 2016, Leicester City enjoyed one of the most remarkable rides that any team in the history of the sport, let alone English football, have enjoyed, and Marc Albrighton played a starring role – all for a free transfer.

After a couple of seasons of knocking on the door to the Premier League, Leicester City eventually smashed it down by romping their way to the second-tier title in the 2013/14 campaign.

The Foxes, under the management of Nigel Pearson, then embarked upon a summer transfer window in which they required and sought Premier League experience in order to sustain themselves in the top-flight.

Marc Albrighton was one of the first men through the door at the King Power Stadium, having departed Aston Villa at the end of his contact, where he had been since 1998.

Albrighton came through the academy at Villa and the Tamworth-born winger went on to make just over 100 appearances for the Villains before being phased out of the side.

At the age of 25, there was a chance that Albrighton’s career could then drift into becoming an EFL journeyman, but Leicester took a chance and he more than repaid his value.

Albrighton became a Leicester legend

In the 2014/15 season, Leicester had struggled badly and Pearson was coming under a lot of pressure with the Foxes heading into the spring seemingly adrift at the bottom-of-the-table and destined for an immediate return to the second division.

In the first-half of the campaign, with Leicester well stocked out-wide and Pearson keen on maintaining a more open and progressive style so limiting the options for Albrighton to get into the team, he did indeed struggle for minutes, making just one start before April.

Then, as April came, Pearson decided to shift formation after a 4-3 loss at White Hart Lane against Tottenham Hotspur, moving to a back three with Leicester at the foot of the table and doomed, having been winless in eight matches, which was a victory that just so happened to be Albrighton’s only other start that season.

As part of the tactical shift, Albrighton began to be deployed as a right wing-back and he flourished for them in a side that immediately turned into one of the very best in the league.

Providing two assists and scoring two goals in their final nine games of the season as Leicester collected a staggering 22 points en route to safety, Albrighton also aided them in keeping five clean sheets in his unfamiliar role.

From a forgotten man, Albrighton turned himself into a key cog for a team that produced one of the greatest escapes in Premier League history, but his and Leicester’s impact on history didn’t end there.

Marc Albrighton, the Premier League winner at Leicester City

In May 2014, Marc Albrighton had been released by Aston Villa as Leicester gained promotion to the top-flight. In May 2015, Marc Albrighton helped Leicester pull off the ‘great escape’ having been a fringe player for large parts of the season. In May 2016, Marc Albrighton was a regular in a Leicester side that won the Premier League title.

Claudio Ranieri replaced Nigel Pearson and with a basic 4-4-2 system, with Albrighton on the left to accommodate Riyad Mahrez on the right-wing, Leicester won the title.

Albrighton’s industrious way of playing and ability to take on the tactical information from Ranieri took his game to a new level as the Englishman made 38 appearances, with 34 starts, in their title-winning campaign.

On the opening day, Albrighton scored as Leicester defeated Sunderland by four goals to two, whilst also providing two of his seven assists that season – and that set the tone.

It was a tone carried through until towards the end of the campaign, too, as Albrighton scored in Leicester’s 35th game, a 4-0 annihilation of Swansea City that took them towards their hands being on the trophy.

That team was full of eventual cult heroes and genuine stars that became legends of the club, but it also had its unsung heroes and Albrighton probably falls into that category, but he was utterly immense.

He remained with Leicester until the summer of 2024, making it a ten-year stint at the King Power, and helped them on to win an FA Cup, the Community Shield and the Championship title once again in his final campaign.

Albrighton was a signing to add Premier League experience and industry to a squad expected to battle. It ended up being one that helped Leicester pull off a minor miracle followed by a major miracle in successive seasons, before then sustaining their success.