Opportunity arises for Will Alves at Leicester City as Steve Cooper shares his thoughts.
The 19-year-old attacking midfielder eyes a second appearance of the season as City travel to Walsall for the Carabao Cup third round.
Will Alves has the chance to earn more game time for Leicester City as the promising young midfielder looks to be involved in their Carabao Cup clash against Walsall on Tuesday night (7:45 pm kick-off).
Alves, considered one of the brightest talents from Leicester’s academy, made his first senior appearance in over 18 months in the previous round of the Carabao Cup.
He came on for the final 20 minutes in a 4-0 victory over Tranmere.
As City prepare for the third round in the West Midlands, Alves will be hoping for another opportunity to impress.
Despite competition from players like Facundo Buonanotte, Bilal El Khannouss, and Jordan Ayew for the number 10 role, manager Steve Cooper believes Alves can earn his place in the squad.
Cooper has emphasized that training performances will determine who gets chances, and Alves is no exception.
Alves’ potential is part of the reason he was not sent out on loan, unlike teammates Ben Nelson, Sammy Braybrooke, and Chris Popov, who sought senior experience elsewhere.
Cooper indicated that the club was cautious about finding the right loan move for Alves and preferred to keep him at Leicester if the ideal opportunity didn’t arise.
“He’s part of our plans,” Cooper said. “It’s up to everyone to prove themselves. We really like Will—he’s a talented young player.
We have a structured plan for him, and while a loan might have been considered, it had to be the right move.
I’d rather have him here than send him to a club where he wouldn’t develop as we’d like.
He’ll continue to work, and opportunities will come if he’s earned them—just like with any player.”
If Alves plays, or if academy graduates like Luke Thomas, Hamza Choudhury, or Kasey McAteer feature, it will reignite Leicester’s streak of including academy players in matches.
After 147 consecutive games with at least one academy player on the pitch, a run spanning nearly three years, none featured in the 1-1 draw with Everton last weekend.
However, Choudhury was on the bench, meaning Leicester have named at least one academy player in the matchday squad for each of their last 286 games.
