The academy of Leicester City has had a banner year. In addition to developing Harvey Barnes, who might command a £38 million transfer cost, they also promoted four youngsters from the development group to the first-team levels.
While Jakub Stolarczyk has preserved three clean sheets in his first three outings for the club and Ben Nelson has finally made his league debut, Kasey McAteer and Wanya Marcal have enjoyed their first league starts for the team and scored their first goals.
But some of the previous academy graduates—what happened to them. In order to determine where they have gone, the careers of five of the City’s most promising players have been analyzed.
The last-second free-kick by Max Gradel against MK Dons, which started City’s upward trend and led to them winning the Premier League trophy, stands out as one of the most significant moments from their League One title win over MK Dons.
Gradel was a great talent with a lot of speed and stepovers when he first graduated from City’s academy at the age of 21. In July, he turned 35 and joined his seventh permanent team.
In his playing career, the Ivorian has amassed over 100 caps, won the Africa Cup of Nations, won championships in France and Turkey, and scored more than 125 goals for senior clubs. He still possesses it. He scored 20 goals and had 20 assists for Sivasspor last season across all competitions, however he has since signed a two-year contract with Super Lig opponent Gaziantep.
Charles Bassey
Calvin Bassey was a different former City prospect who moved this summer. With Fulham, the defender made his way back to England after leaving Ajax for £18 million.
He is one of the City players that was let go before even making an appearance with the main squad. When he transitioned from playing left back to center back for Rangers, he developed tremendously and, although not having an immediate effect, earned a spot in the Europa League team of the season as the Scottish giants finished runners-up.
He spent £20 million to transfer to Ajax as a result, but it proved difficult for him to match his Rangers performance there, and the manager informed him that he most likely wouldn’t play this season. He has therefore arrived in the Premier League after being dismissed in just his second Cottagers outing.
Tavares, Sidnei
Sidnei Tavares made a brave effort to stay at City, and Brendan Rodgers gave him first-team opportunities despite his advanced age. He made his Premier League debut, making him the club’s 10th-youngest player to play in the division.
But that wasn’t enough to persuade him to stay, so he decided to join Porto. He spent two years there but never played for the club’s main team, yet last season he established himself as a regular for their B team in the second tier of Portugal.
He moved again this summer, this time to the US to sign with MLS team Colorado Rapids. He is now 21. When he joined, they were last in the Western Conference, and they are still there despite Tavares’
Dodoo Joe
There were high expectations for Joe Dodoo because he was one of just three players—along with Jeff Schlupp and Archie Gardiner—to score a hat-trick on their City debut. The excitement was increased by his second goal after his treble at Bury, a goal against West Ham.
But there were none more goals. He spent that season on loan at Bury, but it didn’t work out, therefore he went for Rangers at the end of the season. After three years there, two of which were spent on loan, he later had brief stints with Bolton, Ankara Keciorengucu, Wigan, Doncaster, and Burton, none of which lasted more than a season. After finishing the previous season with the Brewers, the 25-year-old joined Dogan Turk Birligi in Northern Cyprus last month.
Panayiotou Harry
Harry Panayiotou also scored on his City debut, a late Championship winner against Leeds, and in the years that followed, he frequently found the back of the goal for the club’s development team. But there was no chance to play for the first team again.
Since then, he has spent the majority of his career in the National League. His 12-goal season for Aldershot in 2020–21 earned him a transfer to Livingston in the Scottish Premiership. But it only lasted a short while, and he soon found himself back in Aldershot, where he had spent the previous 18 months before this summer’s release. The 28-year-old is currently searching for a new team.
He currently has 11 goals in 30 international appearances for the Caribbean island of St. Kitts and Nevis.
