Leicester City have regularly trusted the top emerging talents from their academy, so Leicester City News looks at the youngest players to ever play for the Foxes.
The Leicester academy has become a goldmine for producing talent over the years. Ben Chilwell and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall are the two shining lights showing the path to greatness that the Foxes stars of the future hope to one day walk.
Dewsbury-Hall was instrumental in Enzo Maresca’s Championship title-winning campaign last term while Chilwell was immense under Brendan Rodgers before being sold to Chelsea for £50 million in 2020.
Leicester don’t often have to wait long for the next star to emerge from their academy. 15-year-old winger Jeremy Monga is setting the world alight with his electric performances for the under-21s.
Monga will now be named in Leicester’s squad to face Manchester United in the FA Cup on Friday alongside 16-year-old Jake Evans.
The incredible academy duo would become two of the club’s youngest-ever players if they appear from the bench at Old Trafford. So, with that in mind, we’ve looked at the youngest players to play for Leicester of all-time.
Leicester City’s top 10 youngest players of all time
The list of youngest players to feature for Leicester includes legendary goalkeeper Peter Shilton, recent academy graduate Will Alves, who joined Cardiff City on loan, and former England striker Emile Heskey.
Here’s the list in full:
10) Emile Heskey – 17 years, 1 month, 25 days. Debut: Queens Park Rangers 2-0 Leicester, March 8th, 1995.
9) Luke O’Neill – 17 years, 13 days. Debut: Hartlepool United 0-3 Leicester, September 2nd, 2008.
8) Joe Mattock – 16 years, 11 months, 2 days. Debut: Leicester 1-2 Birmingham City, April 17th, 2007.
7) Tomi Pestrescu – 16 years, 9 months, 10 days. Debut: Wolves 1-1 Leicester, May 4th, 2003.
6) Will Alves – 16 years, 8 months, 4 days. Debut: Leicester 4-1 Watford, January 8th, 2022.
5) David Buchanan – 16 years, 7 months, 25 days. Debut: Leicester 2-1 Newcastle, February 17th, 1979.
4) David Timson – 16 years, 7 months, 18 days. Debut: Leicester 2-3 Blackpool, April 11th, 1964.
3) Peter Shilton – 16 years, 7 months, 16 days. Debut: Leicester 3-0 Everton, May 4th, 1966.
2) Ashley Chambers – 15 years, 6 months, 22 days. Debut: Leicester 2-1 Blackpool, September 20th, 2005.
1) Johnny Grogan – 14 years, 6 months, 9 days. Debut: Newcastle 3-1 Leicester, October 19th, 1935.
According to Transfermarkt, the youngest-ever Leicester player is Johnny Grogan, who appeared at just the age of 14 against Newcastle in 1935.
So, where would Monga fit into this list if he made his debut against Man United? Well, Monga is aged 15 years, 6 months, and 25 days old at the time of writing.
Statistically speaking, this would make him the third-youngest Leicester player of all time, missing out just second position by a couple of days if he enters the pitch.
However, the jet-heeled winger would become Leicester’s youngest-ever FA Cup debutant, beating the current record held by Alves.
What Ruud van Nistelrooy has said about Jeremy Monga
It isn’t often that players as young as 15 play in the under-21 setup, never mind earning a first-team call-up. However, Van Nistelrooy wanted to emphasise that the inclusions of Monga and Evans were merited.
“Jake Evans and Jeremy Monga are very closely monitored by us in their performances in the Under-21s. Fifteen and 16-year-olds who are performing in PL2 on a regular basis and doing well there,” Van Nistelrooy said.
“They are on a weekly basis part of first-team training and will continue to do so over the coming months. They will be part of next year’s set-up in terms of how we plan a pre-season.
“They are vital parts already, even though they’re 15 and 16. It’s hard to imagine at their age they are part of team training on a regular basis and in the plans of this football club.”
The future may not look bright for Leicester in the Premier League but the emergence of Monga and Evans shows their academy is still producing incredible wonderkids.