Leicester City have had more than their fair share of injury problems in recent times – which goes some way to explaining their mixed season so far. Manager Brendan Rodgers has had to do without a string of first-team players at various points of the 2021-22 campaign. Rodgers is in no doubt as to how much the 21-year-old has been missed during his lengthy enforced absence.
Brendan Rodgers said: “This is a top, top player, no question, at a top level. I’ve worked with lots of young, top talents who have gone on to become top professionals, and I’ve got absolutely no doubt in this boy. When he came out of the team, with all due respect, it was a massive loss for us because of the nature of how I play, defending forward, anticipating, speed, but also mentality. I say it in the nicest way, like Jamie Vardy, they have no respect on the field. You watch the top level of the game, it’s that devilment. They can be the nicest guys in the world but on the field they have an edge, and Wesley has that.”
Rodgers drew a comparison with former club Liverpool when assessing the impact of not having Fofana available so far this season.
Brendan Rodgers added: “It was just a massive loss for us when he got injured. The other guys have filled in manfully and done the best they can, but you’ve seen with the likes of Liverpool when they are missing Virgil Van Dijk and Joel Matip. When you’re missing Jamie Vardy and two centre-halves like Jonny [Evans] and Wesley, with all due respect to a club or team like us, that’s a big, big difference. I watch him out my window virtually every day, doing his recovery and rehabilitation. The other day he was doing an individual defending session with Kolo Toure and just seeing his physicality, his anticipation and reading of the game, this is a boy that is top, top level. When we have him back in, then it’s a new dimension to the team back again, and a step towards where we want to go.”
