As Conor Coady returns to Leicester City, Jannik Vestergaard is achieving the unthinkable.
Before this season, the Danish defender hadn’t played a league game in over 18 months, but he’s now doing well at the heart of Enzo Maresca’s three-man defense.
If Leicester City fans had been asked to pick which of their present players would have had the most touches of the ball in the first six games of the Championship season at the end of last season, very few, if any, would have replied Jannik Vestergaard.
Despite this, the huge Dane has had more touches on the ball than any other City player this season, and more than all but four other players in the division, as part of the club’s unlikely turnaround. It’s no longer so far-fetched that his form may keep Conor Coady out of the starting lineup, despite the fact that the England international arrived as a key player. Coady’s absence has certainly not been felt as much as it could have been following his foot fracture.
“They are both extremely intelligent,” boss Enzo Maresca stated ahead of the trip to Norwich. “They are aware of the situation. Conor had finally arrived and was overjoyed to be with us. He had a long injury, so he needs to take things slowly.
Vestergaard had gone 18 months without appearing in a league match for the club before to this season. His most recent Premier League appearance was as a substitute, when West Ham scored a last-minute equalizer, while his most recent Premier League start saw City concede twice in injury time to lose to Tottenham at home.
Last summer again in January, City attempted to sell Vestergaard, but he turned down bids, first because he believed he had a future at the club, and then because he did not want to relocate overseas while his wife was significantly pregnant. Brendan Rodgers had demoted him to the Under-21s by the spring of this year after he gave an unauthorised interview to Danish media in which he stated the manager was a liar.
However, Maresca’s new eyes and Coady’s injury opened the door for Vestergaard, and despite stating his desire to quit City in the week before the Championship began, he has played every minute so far. The five victories in six games are the first five he has had as a starter in a league game for the club.
From the center of the back three, he is performing exactly what Maresca wants. The manager has lauded his tactical sense of knowing when to speed up the game and when to slow it down, and while the Italian is aware that he struggles when forced to rush back towards his own goal, this does not overwhelm his good work in possession.
“I’m overjoyed for him. The only thing he might struggle with, but it’s natural, is defending with 50m behind and against speedy strikers or teams that play on the transition. That’s all there is to it.”
Vestergaard’s deal with City expires next summer, so his comeback may be short-lived. Given the rumours around a possible move to Anderlecht in the last days of the transfer window, a January switch cannot be ruled out. But, regardless of when he goes, if he continues to play and perform as well as he has, and contributes to the success of Maresca’s style, he will have turned around his reputation at City from what appeared to be an irreparable position.
