Faes vs Maguire vs Fofana
How does Leicester City's summer recruit compare to previous centre-backs?
Leicester City have made just over £150m from selling centre-backs Wesley Fofana and Harry Maguire over the past couple of years.
But the Foxes might have found a centre-back who is better than both of them, for a fraction of the price.
Enter Wout Faes.
In the summer, Leicester City lost another of their prized assets, Fofana, for more than £70m, the player they originally brought in to replace Maguire.
At the time, Leicester fans were disgruntled by the sale of Fofana, with many fans believing that he is worth double the amount of money Leicester received for him.
Fofana was replaced with deadline day signing Faes from French side Stade De Reims, a name Foxes fans were unfamiliar with, and one who fans feared was a panic buy.
The Belgium international cost Leicester £15m, a fraction of the transfer fee received for the departed Fofana.
Since arriving in the East Midlands, Faes has looked like a real coup for the Foxes, with his introduction correlating with an upturn in form for Leicester.
After seven Premier League games, the Foxes had conceded 22 goals, a record at that stage of the season, but since then they have only conceded three goals in six games.
The centre-back’s performances have been highly applauded and he has formed a good partnership with Ghana international, Daniel Amartey.
Faes’ form has forced him into the plans of Belgium manager Roberto Martinez, with the centre-back being included in the 26-man squad for the Qatar World Cup, alongside Leicester teammates Youri Tielemans and Timothy Castagne.
How do the stats compare between Wesley Fofana, Harry Maguire and Wout Faes?
Wout Faes is having a similar impact on this Leicester side as Harry Maguire did in the 2018/19 season and Wesley Fofana in the 2021/22 season.
Faes is averaging more tackles made, with 2.8 tackles made per 90 minutes, compared to Maguire’s 1.1 and Fofana’s 1.8.
The Leicester centre-back has also averaged more ground duels won per 90, suggesting that Faes is much better on the ground than Maguire or Fofana.
Maguire tops the charts for average amount of clearances per 90 with 5.3, while Fofana averages more interceptions with 1.8.
However, Faes has averaged more blocks per 90 with 0.9.
Brendan Rodgers’ side had struggled to keep a clean sheet prior to the arrival of Faes, having failed to register a clean sheet in the opening six games.
Since then, the Foxes have kept a clean sheet in six of the last nine games, suggesting that Faes has been a massive boost to Rodgers’ defence, with Faes only averaging one goal conceded a game, the best out of the three centre-backs.
Leicester City fan Lee Davies said: “Best signing in a long time, he plays with leadership and passion and isn’t afraid to get stuck in and run with the ball.
“Very impressed with him and he’s an asset to the team.”
Another Leicester City fan, Paul Stewart, said: “The more this guy speaks, the more I like him.
“I don’t think he sees us as a stepping stone either.”
With the Qatar World Cup having kicked-off on Sunday (NOV20), Leicester City have a break from domestic football with key players Tielemans, James Maddison, and Faes among others representing their country.
Faes and his Belgium side open their World Cup campaign against Canada tomorrow (WED,Nov23), at the Al Rayyan Stadium.
Then they face 2018 World Cup finalists Croatia and African side Morocco as they look to book their place in the round of 16 of the Qatar World Cup.
Belgium will be keen to improve on their third place finish in the previous World Cup after they were beaten by eventual winners France 1-0.
However they did overcome England in the third place play-off, after the Three Lions were dealt a sucker blow when they were beaten by Croatia in extra-time after leading the semi-final.
For Leicester City, their next home fixture is against an in-form Newcastle United side on Boxing Day.
Photo by Rhett Lewis on Unsplash
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