Leicester City has a long-standing tradition of nurturing talented players through their academy.
Gary Lineker stands out as the most prominent example, while Harvey Barnes, Ben Chilwell, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall represent more recent successes.
Currently carrying that legacy forward is Kasey McAteer, who recently attracted late transfer interest from Sunderland.
Sunderland submitted a £10 million bid to sign McAteer, but Leicester chose to retain him, keeping him as part of Ruud van Nistelrooy’s squad.
However, the club did approve the loan move of Will Alves, who has now joined Cardiff City on a six-month loan deal.
In light of this, former Leicester player Iwan Roberts has expressed his belief that Alves has a bright future at the club, even comparing him to Harvey Barnes.
Iwan Roberts likens Will Alves to Harvey Barnes
Speaking on the Feast of Football podcast, Iwan Roberts shared that Leicester coaches believe Will Alves could follow in the footsteps of Harvey Barnes.
“He has bags of potential [and a] fantastic attitude – a really good, honest, humble lad,” Roberts explained.
“I spoke to [former defender] Gerry Taggart, who has worked with him in the Leicester academy.
“Leicester rated him really highly. They thought he is a similar type of player to Harvey Barnes – plays in the wide area, loads of pace, quite direct, can score a goal and create.
“But he had a really bad knee injury a couple of years ago. He hasn’t played many games for Leicester and that’s the reason why.”
Ruud van Nistelrooy big fan of Alves
Ruud van Nistelrooy has publicly praised Alves on multiple occasions, highlighting his admiration for the young player’s qualities.
“What he has is speed, good feet, he can create something, powerful,” Van Nistelrooy said.
“It’s what we need on the wings, players who can take on one-v-ones, get balls into the opponent’s box and get past people to create chances for us.
“Will is capable of that. Of course, he’s very young and needs to keep working like he’s doing now.”
Van Nistelrooy and the club’s leadership will undoubtedly monitor Alves’ progress closely during his time at Cardiff, as the Championship side aims to climb away from the relegation zone.
