Manager urges Leicester City Top-class star to leave the relegated club amid claims that Enzo Maresca’s team in the Championship is holding him back.
Danny Ward will be encouraged to leave Leicester City in the January transfer window by Wales manager Rob Page.
Ward has not played a single minute of competitive football under Enzo Maresca, having fallen to third choice in the City pecking order. Mads Hermansen arrived in the summer as the club’s new number one, with Jakub Stolarczyk impressing the manager to become his deputy.
Despite that, Ward has continued to play for Wales and has been their starting goalkeeper for all four of their Euro 2024 qualifiers this season. Draws with Armenia and Turkey over the past week mean Wales will now head into the play-offs in March, facing Finland in the semi-final before a potential final against Poland or Estonia.
Ahead of those crucial games, Wales boss Page wants his players to be fit and in form. That means trying to convince them to find new clubs in January.
“We have to be on the front foot with it,” Page said. “We need to take every advantage into these games in March. If that means we have to try and influence some of the players to go and play and get minutes then we’ll be having those conversations.
“We have to be selfish, we have to think of ourselves in this as well and get the players playing as many games as they can. We need to get all of us (coaches) in the room and have a plan, go through the potential squad, who needs to get out playing games, who needs more minutes, and we’ll try to determine how healthy the bodies are coming into camp in March.”
As well as Ward, Hermansen, and Stolarczyk, City have Daniel Iversen and Alex Smithies in their ranks. Iversen would be another contender to leave in January, having found himself out of favour under Maresca, but having had admirers in the past, with links to Crystal Palace in the summer.