On an estimated £40,000 per week, Leicester could have done with striking a deal for Danny Ward to depart in January.
Leicester City are one of the strong contenders for automatic promotion to the Premier League this season.
Since their surprising relegation at the end of last season, Leicester’s objective has been to make an immediate return to the top flight.
So far, they have been on course to complete this task, but with eight games remaining, it is far from guaranteed.
The Foxes have won just one of their last five league games, and have been leapfrogged by Leeds United who now sit at the top of the table.
While Leicester remain inside the automatic promotion spots, they are just one point clear of Ipswich Town who are actively hunting them down.
| Championship Table (As it stands March 18th) | ||||
| Team | P | GD | Pts | |
| 1 | Leeds United | 38 | 42 | 82 |
| 2 | Leicester City | 37 | 41 | 82 |
| 3 | Ipswich Town | 38 | 31 | 81 |
| 4 | Southampton | 36 | 26 | 73 |
| 5 | West Brom | 38 | 23 | 66 |
| 6 | Norwich City | 38 | 15 | 61 |
| 7 | Hull City | 37 | 7 | 58 |
| 8 | Coventry City | 37 | 16 | 57 |
Leicester have one of the best squads in the league, with strength in depth in all positions.
Their goalkeeper situation is especially impressive, with Mads Hermansen being their number one stopper, and Jakub Stolarczyk starting all of their cup games and showing himself to be an able deputy.
Hermansen has kept 12 clean sheets this season in the league, conceding just 33 goals in 38 games, and looks more than ready for Premier League football should Leicester get promoted.
One player that has remained at Leicester City this season – despite not even playing – is goalkeeper Danny Ward, who is very much a forgotten man at the King Power Stadium despite his 26 Premier League outings last season.
Danny Ward’s 2023-24 Leicester City season
Despite being Leicester’s number one last season in the Premier League for the most part, Ward has practically been frozen out of the squad this season – yet still remains on the books.
The 30-year-old has failed to make a single appearance for Leicester’s first team this season, making the bench in the Championship on just six occasions.
He has fallen to third in the goalkeeping hierarchy at the club, just like Daniel Iversen had done until his January exit to Stoke City, and his future at the King Power Stadium looks bleak.
His only appearances for the club this season have strangely been with their under-21’s, having made two appearances against Crystal Palace and Everton in the Premier League 2.
It does seem rather strange that Ward is being kept around as a third-choice goalkeeper, especially due to there being interest in January.
Leicester should have offloaded Ward in January
In the January transfer window just gone, the Welshman received interest from both Cardiff and Sheffield United, despite not playing a single minute of domestic senior football all season.
It was Alan Nixon, via Patreon, who revealed interest from the Bluebirds and the Blades, and it looked as though a deal was going to be struck with one of the clubs, which would have made sense for all parties.
Leicester would have been able to stop paying high wages for a third-choice goalkeeper, as he is currently earning an estimated weekly wage of £40,000 according to Capology; the 13th-highest salary in the squad.
From Ward’s perspective, a move away from Leicester would have made a lot of sense in January as he could have earned regular game time in either the Championship or the Premier League.
His regular game time could have put him in contention to start for Wales in the 2024 Euros, but now this is not guaranteed due to his lack of match sharpness.
Ultimately, Leicester missed out on a big opportunity to offload Ward in January as they could have put his high wages to better use elsewhere – instead, Cardiff landed Ethan Horvath from Nottingham Forest whilst Sheffield United opted for Atletico Madrid’s Ivo Grbic.
Ward still has another year on his contract, and interest will surely be weaker in the summer, especially if clubs have to pay a fee for a goalkeeper who has not played all season.
Copyright © 2024
Leave a Reply