The Future of Leicester’s Young Talents? Will Alves, Sammy Braybrooke and Ben Nelson

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Over the last four or five seasons Leicester have not managed to bring through enough talent from their own academy. There are a lot of young promising players at the club. However, it looks difficult to convince managers coming and going about their quality.

They see these players in training and they of course compare them to others in that setting. We have taken a closer look on the progression of Will Alves, Sammy Braybrooke and Ben Nelson.

They have all represented England at different youth levels. They should have been in the frame for a starting position. Instead, they find themselves far below what we expected from them a few years back.

All three have struggled with different injuries and had long breaks out. To get back is difficult. All three are in a face of stagnation and the doubters will soon be out pointing their fingers.

Sammy Braybrooke joined Dundee in the top flight of Scottish football last season. He never managed to establish himself at that level. It was a big surprise. He was just given 7 league outings in that loan session at Dens Park. He is out on loan again this season. He plays for Newport County. They are stuck to the bottom of League Two.

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Sammy Braybrooke helped Newport to back-to-back wins as several loanees featured over the weekend 👇
— Leicester City (@LCFC) October 14, 2025

The situation for Will Alves is even more alarming. He is out injured again and looks far from the prospect he was a few years back. He also suffered last season being part of a relegation, playing for Cardiff on loan. This season he made a loan move to Huddersfield, but that was cut short picking up another troublesome injury.

Ben Nelson is a promising player. However, at the moment he looks totally out of any contest. He is not playing at the moment. Last season he was on loan at Oxford, and his time there was positive. He also suffered with an injury during the campaign. He had a break in the middle before returning to Kassam Stadium to complete the season.

Seeing this trio struggle to get into the first team frame at Leicester is, of course, one negative. It is also a reality check for those who are coming in the next cluster. England caps at youth level count for nothing in this competition. It seems very difficult for players to achieve the necessary stability. Players also need the quality required to join the first team frame at Leicester.

Alves and Braybrooke competed at a higher level last season. Nelson was seen as a contender for a first team position this season. There is still some hope for the trio. Hopefully, they won’t just leave to play at a lower level. It would be unfortunate if they faded into the Non-League circus. Many former academy players from this club find themselves there.

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