Ruud van Nistelrooy sets out Leicester City first-team plan for two brightest prospects
Leicester City’s talented starlets Jake Evans and Jeremy Monga will be included in the club’s pre-season plans this summer with a view to them stepping up to the first team permanently next term.
Two of the brightest prospects to emerge from City’s academy, Evans and Monga, aged 16 and 15, have impressed in their first season at Under-21 level this campaign and have been training alongside Ruud van Nistelrooy’s senior team regularly. City see them as potential stars, but know other clubs do too, with widespread interest in Monga particularly.
Van Nistelrooy has made clear that City have a plan for the duo. He said it’s already been decided that they will be part of the first team when preparations begin for next season, even though they will still be 16 and 15, with their birthdays not until later in the summer.
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So far, they have passed every test with flying colours. Monga, who plays on either flank, and Evans, who can play out wide or up front, have looked more than at home at Under-21 level, and both scored in last Friday’s 3-0 victory over Coventry.
For Monga, curling into the far corner from 18 yards with his weaker left foot, it was another fine goal to add to his growing highlight reel. Evans, meanwhile, has now been on the scoresheet in three successive games and has eight goals in 16 starts for the Under-21s this season.
Van Nistelrooy said: “Jake Evans and Jeremy Monga are very closely monitored by us in their performances in the Under-21s. Fifteen and 16-year-olds who are performing in PL2 on a regular basis and doing well there.
“They are on a weekly basis part of first-team training and will continue to do so over the coming months. They will be part of next year’s set-up in terms of how we plan a pre-season.
“They are vital parts already, even though they’re 15 and 16. It’s hard to imagine at their age they are part of team training on a regular basis and in the plans of this football club.”
At such a tender age, there are no guarantees yet that either will make it to the top. With Evans playing as a striker, it might be expected that van Nistelrooy, as a former forward himself, would be able to better determine if he will make the grade, but the Dutchman said that’s not what he’s looking for.
“The biggest contribution for a player to make it is not position specific, it’s recognising the character and mindset,” van Nistelrooy added. “I can recognise that, which professional is the real deal and has the character and mindset to make it in this world, in top sport. That is the first thing I try to recognise.”
Right now, Under-21s coach Leon McSweeney is one of the key men in ensuring their development. He says he's been left "in awe" by the talent that Monga has been showing.
Speaking about Monga after last Friday's win over Coventry, McSweeney told the club: “Having the pleasure to work with him, the football pitch is his playground and it’s a joy to see that. I’m in awe of him, the goal he scored tonight, to see what he does in training.
"We’ll keep pushing him, putting him in and letting him do his thing. He gives me pleasure as a coach to watch and it gives him pleasure to go on the pitch and do his thing. We just need to embrace that, provide the environment for him to thrive. Hopefully the first team come knocking.”
