Leicester City produced one of the greatest escapes in Premier League history in May 2015, but within a year, the Foxes made history once more when they won the most improbable title in league history. Where are those players now?
Instead of going through each player individually for context, I have chosen the ones who had the largest impact on their championship-winning team. I’ll go into great detail on each player’s current situation and what transpired after they won Premier League champion medals.
After winning the Premier League, the Foxes advanced to the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals, won the FA Cup and Community Shield, and then were unexpectedly relegated to the Championship, where they are presently leading the league.
The team led by Enzo Maresca is now atop the standings after winning seven of their eight league games this year. Their lone loss came to Hull City.
In the EFL Cup, the Foxes also defeated Burton Albion and Tranmere Rovers, setting up a third-round match against Premier League powerhouse Liverpool. However, despite Kasey McAteer’s opening goal, the Reds fought back to defeat the Foxes 3-1 and eliminate them from the competition.
After all of that, let’s look at the important players from Leicester’s Premier League victory in 2016 and where they are right now.
Kasper Schmeichel is the goalkeeper.
Kasper Schmeichel, a Danish international, continued his father’s legacy by assisting the Foxes in winning the Premier League. Schmeichel only allowed 36 goals in the 38 games the team played during the title-winning campaign.
Before departing Leicester in the summer of 2022, Schmeichel rose to the position of captain for the Foxes and helped them win additional trophies. The Danish player was sent to Nice of France for an unspecified sum, however after just one season, Schmeichel was released. He recently signed with Belgian team RSC Anderlecht, however he has only played in one game so far.
Right-Back – Danny Simpson
Kicking off the defence we have full-back Danny Simpson who played a crucial role for the Foxes and remained as the club’s first-team number-one option until the 2018 arrival of Portuguese defender Ricardo Pereira.
Simpson was released by the Foxes in June 2019 after his contract expired and spent three months without a side until he arrived at Huddersfield Town. He finished the 2019/20 season with the Terriers before having a year out. He arrived at Bristol City in March 2021 but was released after a year and has been a free agent ever since.
Robert Huth, center-back
Robert Huth, a German defender, had an exceptional defensive partnership with the Foxes that enabled the team to realize its improbable goal. Harry Maguire and other newcomers notwithstanding, Huth stayed at the King Power Stadium until June 2018.
Huth announced his immediate retirement from professional football after his contract expired, though. Huth kept a low profile after announcing his retirement, thus nothing is known about his life beyond football, even if he will return to Germany in 2021.
Wes Morgan is the center back.
Wes Morgan, the captain of Leicester City, rose to fame while playing at the King Power Stadium. Morgan decided to stay with the team after the title-winning campaign and signed recurrent one-year contracts under Brendan Rodgers.
Just a year shy of his ten-year anniversary with the team, in June 2021, the former Jamaican international decided to end his career. After retiring, Morgan started working as a Sky Sports pundit, appearing frequently whenever the Foxes are on the news.
Back on the left: Christian Fuchs
It will be difficult to find a player who was as beloved by the fans as Christian Fuchs was. The Austrian defender joined Leicester City in 2015 and stayed there for six years, albeit Ben Chilwell replaced him the season after the team won the title.
Fuchs traveled to the USA and joined Charlotte Independence and later Charlotte FC, two MLS teams, after calling it quits on his career in England. Fuchs made his professional retirement official in January 2023, but he has continued to coach the MLS team.
Midfield, right – Riyad Mahrez
In one of the finest transactions in Premier League history, Riyad Mahrez, an Algerian winger, joined Leicester in 2014 for merely £500,000. Mahrez earned the PFA Players Player of the Season honor during the team’s championship campaign and assisted in 28 goals in 39 games.
Mahrez stayed with Leicester City up until the summer of 2018, when he signed a £62 million transfer agreement to join Manchester City. Mahrez helped the team to its first-ever Champions League victory at the Eithad Stadium while also collecting numerous Premier League and FA Cup medals. He was nevertheless moved to the Saudi Arabian team Al-Ahli in the summer and has scored three goals in his first seven games there.
N’Golo Kante plays in central midfield.
With his outstanding individual performances under Claudio Ranieri, French midfielder N’Golo Kante was the unsung hero of Leicester City’s championship victory. He appeared 40 times for the Foxes and assisted on five goals.
However, after the season was over, Kante finalized a transfer to Chelsea, a Premier League rival team, where he first played a prominent role and won the Champions League before losing favor. Kante joined Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia in the summer after leaving Stamford Bridge, and he has helped set up three goals this year.
Danny Drinkwater, central midfield
Danny Drinkwater, an English midfielder, was paired with N’Golo Kante. The midfielder joined the squad in 2012 and stayed for five years at the King Power Stadium, playing in over 280 first-team games before departing the team in 2017.
The midfielder joined Chelsea for almost £35 million, but his time there was unimpressive, signaling the start of a terrible fall for the player. Although he spent time on loan at Aston Villa, Burnley, and Turkey, his career remained in decline. He was with Reading during the previous season, however he is still unsigned at this time.
Midfield leftist Marc Albrighton
One of just two players from this group who are still at the club is the winger Marc Albrighton, who transferred for free from Aston Villa to the King Power Stadium. Although the 33-year-old wasn’t the team’s most recognizable name, his influence and presence will never be forgotten.
Albrighton has played in 300 games for the Foxes’ first squad and has so far assisted on 66 goals in all competitions. He was on loan at West Bromwich Albion for the second part of the previous season, but he has since returned to the King Power Stadium and has played in five matches so far this year under Enzo Maresca.
Shinji Okazaki is a striker.
Shinji Okazaki, a Japanese forward, joined the Foxes in 2015 for just under £10 million, and after a ‘hit-and-miss’ stint in Germany, he quickly established himself as the ideal attack partner for our next entry, even contributing with a number of goals and assists of his own.
When his contract with Leicester expired in 2019, Okazaki moved to Malaga, however his contract was immediately terminated owing to financial difficulties. Instead, he joined Huesca and was instrumental in their La Liga promotion. At the age of 37, he presently represents Belgium’s Sint-Truiden.
Jamie Vardy is a forward.
Jamie Vardy, the top player for Leicester City, established himself as one of the best buys in the annals of English football when he scored 24 goals in the Premier League to help the Foxes win the championship.
Since then, he has remained with the Foxes and has helped the team win the FA Cup, Community Shield, as well as the Champions League. Vardy has made nine appearances this season despite suffering from a number of injuries, contributing to one goal and scoring three others as the Foxes lead the Championship.
Demarai Gray, Leonardo Ulloa, Andy King, Nathan Dyer, and Jeff Schlupp received honorable mentions.
Although I have concentrated on the title-winning team’s core eleven players in this blog, there are five players who deserve recognition for their stand-in or substitute performances, which I will cover now.
Demarai Gray, a winger, joined from Birmingham City in January 2016 and played for 169 matches before moving on to Everton. He presently plays for Al-Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia and is managed by Steven Gerrard
Argentinian striker Leonardo Ulloa arrived in 2014 and played a crucial substitute for the Foxes. Four years after his arrival, Ulloa was loaned out to Brighton before being sold in August to Pachuca in Mexico. He had a brief spell with Rayo Vallecano before retiring in 2021.
Welsh midfielder Andy King was another popular figure within Leicester City’s squad and remained with the Foxes for 13 years before leaving in 2020 after his contract came to an end. After remaining as a free agent for six months, King joined Belgium side OH Leuven but has since reunited with former Leicester boss Nigel Pearson with Bristol City.
Another unsung star for the Foxes was the English winger Nathan Dyer, who was a crucial rival for Marc Albrighton and Riyad Mahrez. However, Dyer returned to Swansea City once his loan period was through, where he stayed until 2020, when his career came to an end as a result of retirement.
Finally, the dynamic forward-turned-defender Jeff Schlupp joined the Foxes in 2011 after moving from Brentford. As a result, he was offered a £10 million transfer to Crystal Palace, a Premier League rival team, where he is still playing today after more than 200 games, including eight so far this season.
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