Leicester's Premier League title winners of 2015-16: Where are they now?
By Tom Sullivan
The 2015-16 Premier League title win by Leicester City is arguably the most remarkable in football history. Claudio Ranieri's side started the season as 5,000/1 outsiders, with bookmakers predicting that there was a better chance of Elvis Presley being alive than the Foxes winning the title.
With it coming up to the five-year anniversary since that memorable season, it will be interesting to see where the players and manager are now.
"Leicester City FC Champions Parade and Party 19" by JPAG is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
The most used starting 11:
Kasper Schmeichel (GK)
He is still Leicester's first-choice goalkeeper and the club's vice-captain. Signed from Leeds United in 2011, the 34-year-old has been an ever present and has started every Premier League game. The Leicester City player of the season in the 16/17 campaign continues to be a fan favourite, appearing in over 400 games for club.
Danny Simpson (RB)
The starting right back made 30 appearances in this campaign for the Foxes. From the Man United youth academy, he has also enjoyed successful spells at Newcastle and QPR. He recently hung up his boots at the age of 34 spending last season at Huddersfield.
Wes Morgan (CB)
The ever present from the 15/16 season, captain Morgan is still with Leicester but currently having to settle as a rotational player, mostly getting his games in cup competitions. With his contract expiring at the end of the season, Morgan will go down as a Leicester City legend.
Robert Huth (CB)
Huth left Leicester on a free transfer in 2018, after missing the entirety of the 2017-18 campaign due to ankle and foot injuries. The German international came up with important goals away at Man City and Spurs and ended up being Leicester’s 5th top goal scorer in the league that season. Retired in 2018, Huth is just one of 11 players to win the Premier League with two different clubs.
Christian Fuchs (LB)
The Leicester left-back remains a key player, but his contract expires at the end of the season. Another player coming to the end of his career, the Austrian international has enjoyed success playing in in Germany and Austria. He also runs a PR company, The Fox Soccer Academy and the NoFuchsGiven eSports academy team.
Riyad Mahrez (RW)
After starring in the title win, the winger left for Manchester City in a £60 million deal in July 2018, where he won the league under Pep Guardiola that season. He also helped Algeria to the 2019 African Cup of Nations title. With over 100 goal contributions in the league, Mahrez is known for his trademark cut ins from the right-hand side and is looking like he is going to win the league this season.
N’Golo Kanté (CM)
Kante is regarded as one of the best midfielders in the world. In the summer of 2016, he moved to Chelsea for a bargain fee of £32 million, winning another Premier League title in 2016-17, the FA Cup in 2017-18, and the Europa League in 2018-19. He also helped France win the 2018 World Cup.
Danny Drinkwater (CM)
After the success of winning the league, Drinkwater’s career probably hasn’t gone as he expected. After being included in Roy Hodgson's provisional UEFA Euro 2016 squad of 26, he then left to join Chelsea for £34m in August 2017. Having only played 12 league games for the Blues, he has since had loan spells at Burnley and Aston Villa and is now currently on loan at Turkish side Kasimpaşa S.K.
Marc Albrighton (LW)
One of the unsung heroes of that Leicester campaign, playing in every single league game that season. The 31-year-old has been at the club since 2014 where he joined on a free from Aston Villa. He might not have the stats to back his consistency up, but having over 20 appearances each season for the Foxes shows how important he is to this side.
Jamie Vardy (ST)
The league’s top scorer last season with 23 goals, Vardy has continued what he was doing in the title winning season. The natural goalscorer has now scored 115 Premier League goals and is placed 19th in the all-time lists. Despite being linked with moves away from the King Power, Vardy has stayed loyal to the side which signed him from Fleetwood back in 2012.
Shinji Okazaki (ST)
During the title-winning campaign, Okazaki played Robin to Jamie Vardy's Batman, and as a result, he was named Asian Player of the Year in December 2016. In June 2019, Leicester released Okazaki, who signed for Malaga. Incredibly his contract was ripped up after 34 days over a wage dispute. The 34-year-old is now at La Liga side Huesca where he enjoyed promotion to the top division last season.
"LCFC lift the Premier League Trophy" by boloveselvis is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
The most used subs:
Leonardo Ulloa (ST)
Ulloa made 29 appearances for Leicester in the 2015-16 campaign and chipped in with key goals. In August 2018, he left Leicester for CF Pachuca in Mexico and a year later joined his current club Rayo Vallecano in Spain where he is still recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury he suffered in training.
Andy King (CM)
Prior to his departure he was Leicester's longest serving player (2006-2020). Since the title triumph he has been on loan at Swansea, Derby County, Rangers, and most recently Huddersfield Town. When his contract expired at the end of the last season, he joined Belgium side OH Leuven whose owner is also King Power.
Jeffrey Schlupp (LW)
In January 2017, the versatile left-sided player signed a £12.5 million contract with Crystal Palace. Having been out for the last three months with a hamstring injury, the Ghanaian has recently returned to the side coming off the bench in their two most recent games.
The manager:
Claudio Ranieiri
Despite doing the impossible and winning the league, Ranieri’s fairy-tale journey would end at Leicester in February of the next season where his side were just one point above the relegation zone, with 13 games left. Ranieri would go on to manage at Nantes, Fulham, and Roma and he is now the manager of Sampdoria, who are currently 10th in Serie A.