Leicester City have opened contract talks with a player who has played a pivotal role in Enzo Maresca’s system.
The job Enzo Maresca has done at Leicester City has been nothing short of remarkable.
Although he inherited a strong squad following relegation from the Premier League, several of his players had a fractured mentality and needed to be picked up off the floor.
One of those was centre-back Jannik Vestergaard, whose future at the King Power looked to be decimated as a result of Brendan Rodgers.
The 31-year-old was frozen out of the Northern Irishman’s plans last term and didn’t feature for a single minute in the top flight.
As soon as Maresca arrived, however, he could soon see his qualities as a ball-playing defender and was instantly thrown into his starting XI.
The rest, as they say, is history. Vestergaard has since missed just two matches in the Championship, one through suspension and the other through injury.
He’s formed an incredible partnership with Wout Faes that has seen Leicester open up a 12-point lead at the top of the table.
After turning his career around at Leicester, supporters feared that he could depart the club in June once his contract expires.
Fortunately, an update has now emerged on his future at the King Power.
Leicester to open contract talks with Jannik Vestergaard
Vestergaard is one of six players who see their contracts expire in the summer, but it appears the club have made a conscious move to award him renewed terms.
That is according to the Daily Mail’s Tom Collomosse, who claims that Leicester are poised to open contract talks with the ‘remarkable’ defender.
If they do, he will be the first of the six to be offered a new contract and he’s certainly the most deserving.
Jannik Vestergaard’s 23/24 stats
From frozen out to becoming a key cog in Maresca’s winning machine, Vestergaard’s importance to the Foxes is outlined by his ability on the ball and reading of the game.
In the Championship this term, he’s completed more passes per game than any other player in the division (95.6) with an incredible success rate of 93%.
The dominant Dane has also shown he can put himself in the right place to sniff out danger by making the most clearances in the Leicester squad per game (3.7) and fourth most interceptions (1.1).
Vestergaard is crucial to how Maresca’s side builds from the back as his composure on the ball exhumes throughout the entire squad.
He’s arguably the best ball-playing defender in the division and although Premier League defences could exploit his lack of speed, the former Southampton star has done more than enough to warrant a new deal.