Life at Leicester City has been turbulent of late, to say the least. Three relegations in four seasons and the club are now officially up for sale. That said, manager Russell Martin, appointed prior to the Foxes’ pre-season campaign, now appears to be turning the tide somewhat, thanks in part to a small alteration at the back.
With Jannik Vestergaard having left the club, Ben Nelson sidelined and Wout Faes waiting in the Seagrave departure lounge, options at the heart of the City defence have been somewhat stretched. A tricky start to life in League One saw Leicester held to a 1-1 draw by newly promoted Notts County on the opening day, before defeat at home to last season’s strugglers Burton Albion.
A tactical switch by Russell Martin saw left-back Luke Thomas occupy the centre-back role away at Ipswich Town in the Carabao Cup. Despite the 3-1 defeat at Portman Road, Thomas gave an encouraging performance alongside young defender Olabade Aluko. Martin stuck with Thomas for the next outing at MK Dons, where City were resolute at the back and were unlucky not to take away all three points, with the game ending goalless.
The criticism has been prevalent both online and from the stands in Luke Thomas’ direction over recent seasons. Thomas broke into the Leicester side in 2020 following an injury to Ben Chilwell. The impact was immediate, as Luke set up Ayoze Perez to score as Leicester beat Sheffield United 2-0 in the Premier League.
After scoring in Europe away at Braga in a 3-3 draw during Leicester’s Europa League campaign, Thomas would grab his first Premier League goal at Old Trafford in a 2-1 victory over Manchester United. Manager Brendan Rodgers kept faith with his young left-back as Thomas started the FA Cup final against Chelsea, achieving a winner’s medal thanks to Youri Tielemans’ long-range strike.
Since the heady days of lifting trophies and scoring Premier League goals, things have gone a little south for Luke Thomas and Leicester City. Loaned out to Sheffield United following Leicester’s shock relegation at the end of the 2022/23 season, Thomas unfortunately experienced the same sinking feeling as the Blades were relegated from the top flight.
Things would not improve as Leicester, by now promoted back to the Premier League, would only stay for a single season, with Thomas returning to make 14 appearances. Relegation back to the Championship was followed by a second successive drop, this time into League One. Luke Thomas had been an ever-present throughout the campaign.
Now, the turnaround in fortunes for Leicester’s new centre-back seems to be in motion. City grabbed their first three points of the season at home to Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday night and will look to add more as they face Oxford United at the King Power on Saturday.
Extra defensive competition arrived through the transfer window, as Warren O’Hora joined from Hibernian, along with Ilari Kangasniemi from Finnish side Inter Turku, in a busy window for the Foxes. For now, Luke Thomas is enjoying a renaissance at the heart of City’s rearguard.
Image Credit: Антон Зайцев