Lewis Brunt was named “development player of the year” as late as May. He is a year older than Luke Thomas and as Callum Wright, Josh Eppiah and George Hirst will be counted as senior players and looks far from inclusion among the 25 players to get on that list. Bayli Spencer-Adams is not one that this season will be seen as a senior, but he is far from being a first team alternative and at the age of 21 that makes it difficult. Time will tell if Leicester decides to give them a chance to leave on loan or given full moves.
Lewis Brunt, George Hirst, Josh Eppiah and Bayli Spencer-Adams have not played games in pre-season. We do not have any special information on Brunt, Hirst and Eppiah, but we know Spencer-Adams is out injured. None of the four was involved in Evian and not seen in any action for the development squad during pre-season games, so they might be injured, but still uncertainty.
Brunt made his debut for Leicester last season and looks as a talented young player who can operate in defence and midfield. With him being over the age of 21, he will be counted as a senior and then to fill up a place in the development squad would look strange as they can have five overaged outfield players in the team over a transition period as the PL2 is converted from U.23 to U.21 competition.
George Hirst has been involved in first team football on loan at Portsmouth, OH Leuven and Rotherham as as well as getting his debut in the first team at Leicester as far back as 2019. He is an England U.20 international with 7 goals in 13 games on that level and at 23 years of age not really looking for a life in the development environment again. He returned to Leicester in the summer to train and see on the future, but was not in Evian and has not played in pre-season. He has been linked with Barnsley, Ipswich and Porstmouth, so we will just have to wait and see.
Callum Wright has shown great promise since returning from his loan spell at Cheltenham Town. The 22 year old midfielder is a player to watch and could take the step into first team contention, but at present with the situation with too many senior players he will of course not sit out half a season and just be comfortable playing in the development team.
The fourth of them Josh Eppiah spent last season on loan at Northampton and has also been at OH Leuven in the past. He is still under contract at Leicester and not seen at all during pre-season. He was on the retained list as well as Bayli Spencer-Adams. Spencer-Adams is not one that will be seen as a first team senior, but still he is a player that will be on that list next season, and at 21 and not being seen anywhere near a first team chance, you need to get those situations sorted.
We will most certainly see a number of agreements being done over a short period of time as the future all in all looks far from the Leicester first team for these five players and hopefully they will be given a chance to leave either on loan or as full transfers. They are all good players that could go into an EFL squad at least at League One and League Two level.
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