Leicester City Fan View: Puel will get the youngsters up and running

Claude Puel has had a full week of training since his side beat Everton to assess the squad. Puel’s decision to include both Demarai Gray and Ben Chilwell in his first starting line-up is a positive sign for our young players. The Frenchman may have endured a mixed response at Southampton, but he is credited with having an eye for including and encouraging young players to progress.

Puel’s reputation for developing youth

Throughout his managerial career, Puel has proved he has an eye for a promising young player. While in France he helped some of the Premier League’s big names emerge, the likes of Eden Hazard and Hugo Lloris. Having zoned in on two of Leicester’s younger squad already, there’s no signs that this has changed.

At Southampton, Puel blended youth with experience to balance his squad. The Saints have a great reputation themselves for producing talented youngsters, many of whom have moved on to bigger teams since. The Frenchman may have been hired with that in mind, but it’s something he delivered on. Jack Stephens was one of the players he helped introduce to the first team, along with promoted roles for James Ward-Prowse and utilising Nathan Redmond.

Something Leicester have never particularly had in abundance is a wealth of young talent ready to break through. Perhaps in the past part of that was down to a reluctance to risk including them. There have been so many players we’ve read will be the next big thing, only to have never seen them play. Of our current squad, only Andy King and Ben Chilwell are products of our academy. If Puel can help improve this, it’ll be a welcome step forward for the club.

With Puel at the helm, it’s an exciting challenge to those hoping for their chance. With some of them coming to the make or break age, it’ll be interesting to see who gets included moving forward.

Harry Barnes could be the next Foxes’ young player to emerge

We’ve only had fleeting glances of Harvey Barnes so far in the senior Leicester squad. There was a memorable Champions League cameo against Porto, where he managed to impress despite it being a poor night for the Foxes. His time has been limited, but only because we’ve been keen to loan him out and give him a chance to develop in the lower leagues.

Barnes netted Academy Player of the Year last season. Perhaps more impressively, it wasn’t his only award. Having spent half of the season on loan at Milton Keynes Dons, the young midfielder bagged their Young Player of the Year award . It’s worth noting that he got six goal in twenty-one games too, not bad for a player of his position. The rave reviews that followed every performance helped bag him a loan move a league higher this year.

The club tied him into a new deal this summer. Currently on a season long loan at Barnsley, the youngster has stepped up to the challenge pretty easily. Already getting goals again, Barnes is once again having his praises sung by all. Puel’s surely got one eye on moving him into the squad once he returns.

The competition in midfield will be tough. With Adrien Silva’s availability in January, Vicente Iborra settling in and now playing like he’s been with us for years as well as Wilfred Ndidi. Barnes can learn from them all though. In the same way he can learn from his England teammates when he goes on international duty with the Under 20s. He’s already tasted international glory, part of the Under 18s who won the Toulon Tournament this year.

Demarai Gray’s time to shine

Having signed a new deal, ending speculation for a while, it feels like Demarai Gray’s time. The promise has been there ever since he signed. The end product on the pitch has varied though. Gray’s time in the startling line-up was more likely to come in the cup matches prior to this year. There were a feeling that perhaps with our style, he was a better impact player. We also prefer to use him on the wings rather than putting him straight down the middle.

Puel’s seen something he likes though. Starting him against Everton proved to be a fantastic move. Gray delivered his best performance since joining Leicester. He was at the centre of almost every positive, forward move. His goal and man of the match accolade topped the day off.

Gray has blistering pace, an eye for goal and bags of confidence. Our style against Everton suited all of his attributes perfectly. With Riyad Mahrez in a roaming role, it also gave Gray leeway to cut inside and come down the middle if needed. The Everton defence had no idea how to stop him. It’s the type of performance we hope to start seeing more regularly. For the winger, he should have done enough to secure his place in the starting eleven again this weekend.

Leicester will hope for more good fortune away from home

Having finally picked up an away win, in impressive fashion at Swansea, the Foxes could notch a second this weekend. Travelling to Stoke, it’s a chance to record a fourth win in a row in all competitions. For new manager, Puel, he’ll want to make it back to back victories. If his side can produce some of the football we witnessed in the first half, we’ll certainly life hard for our hosts.