Football: Wilfred Ndidi is the essential key to Leicester City’s success
Leicester City football club are flying high in the Premiership this season. They haven’t enjoyed such success since their shock win of England’s top footballing league in the 2015/2016 season. Now, after 17 games this season, they are second on the table on 39 points, 10 points behind league leaders Liverpool.
It would be a long shot to think they can overhaul the Reds given the form and the unbeaten run that Jurgen Klopp's team are enjoying right now. But you never know. Stranger things have happened. Who would have thought at the beginning of the season that the Foxes would be four points ahead of the Citizens and one place higher in the table?
So, what is the secret of their success? Well, in no small part it is down to Jamey Vardy who is currently not only the Premiership’s most deadly 32-year-old in front of goal, but he is also the current top scorer with 16 goals to his credit. But that isn’t all. The Foxes have another player to thank, and that it the Nigerian midfielder, Wilfred Ndidi.
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The 23-year-old defensive midfielder has been a revelation for Leicester this season. In fact, after his 16th appearance for his club this season, he was ranked the second best tackler in the Premiership with 72 tackles to his name. Who is the first? Why it’s another Leicester City player - Ricardo Domingos Barbosa Pereira. He has made 74 tackles but has played an all 17 matches to date.
If you add interceptions to Ndidi’s impressive tackle rate, he comes out on top as Europe’s best defensive midfielder. But he can help to set up attacking plays and score goals too. The fact of the matter is that the Nigerian is one of the hottest young properties around and his name has been linked with Arsenal who are desperate to sign him in the January transfer window.
However, Leicester City would be foolish to part with him, and manager Brendan Rodgers is far from being a fool. Ndidi was signed from the Belgian side KRC Genk in January 2017. He cost City £17.6 million, and initially, he didn't overly impress. But this season, under the watchful eyes of Brendan Foster, he has taken his performance to the next level.
Sitting in front of the back four, he protects the defence allowing the forwards free reign. His ball-winning skills and his linking to start attacking movements are the perfect foil for the Foxes' forays. Admittedly he is not the best playmaker, but that isn't his role anyway.
He is there to win the ball, and nobody does it better. Fellow fox, James Maddison cannot speak highly enough of the young Nigerian. He believes he is the best holding midfield player in the Premier League and even rates him above Chelsea’s N'Golo Kante.
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