Leicester City have a new centre-back in Caleb Okoli to help them fight for survival in the 2024-25 Premier League season. The Italian was Leicester’s third most expensive summer purchase.
The 23-year-old came through the youth ranks of Atalanta, one of Italy’s highly-rated academies. As a teenager, Okoli was sent out on loan to SPAL, a Serie B club, for his first taste of senior football. The defender impressed and was subsequently sent out on another loan spell to Cremonese.
Caleb Okoli’s breakthrough season came last year at Frosinone
At the start of the 2022-23 season, following two successful loan spells with Serie B clubs, Atalanta kept Okoli in their senior squad. However, he failed to get much game time, managing only nine starts. Unable to provide him with regular game time, Atalanta loaned him out to fellow Serie A side Frosinone the next season. Despite Frosinone getting relegated, Okoli enjoyed a breakthrough season. The centre-back made 32 starts and won plenty of plaudits for his performances.
Okoli was then identified by Leicester as a transfer target and subsequently signed for a fee of £13 million. The Foxes had the likes of Jannik Vestergaard, Wout Faes, Conor Coady, Harry Souttar, and Ben Nelson all vying for the centre-back spot, so why did Leicester sign Okoli?
The Italian brings pace to the team
A big aspect of what the Foxes liked about Okoli was his physicality, particularly his pace. Leicester didn’t really have a quick centre-back and desperately needed one to adapt to the Premier League. The Italian backs up his physicality with good defending abilities, ranking above the 70th percentile in tackles, blocks, and clearances.
Okoli made his Premier League debut against Aston Villa, a game that ended in a 2-1 home defeat at the King Power. Despite the loss, the 23-year-old had a good game. He made a fantastic last-ditch sliding tackle to deny Villa a third goal and was a big physical presence in the Leicester box throughout the match.
However, Steve Cooper has stated that he will likely rotate Vestergaard and Okoli depending on the opposition. While the Italian may not be a regular starter, he brings much-needed pace and physicality to the Foxes’ back line.
