Wout Faes' Leicester City exit is the transfer decision that came years too late

Wout Faes' Leicester City exit may be the most-celebrated piece of transfer business this season. The defender's four-year spell at the King Power Stadium came to an end on Monday with a permanent move to Shabab Al-Ahli.

Faes will, once the dust settles, go down as one of the worst signings in the club's recent history. He arrived to replace Wesley Fofana in 2022 and marked his start with that 6-2 drubbing by Tottenham. City paid £15m for a player expected to replace a £70m centre-back.

A comedic own-goal brace at Anfield should have been a sign of things to come. City's surprise relegation in 2023 marked the start of the club's downward trajectory that currently sees them 14th in League One.

Faes was instrumental to Enzo Maresca's team in the 2023/24 campaign, although largely because City were dominant in most games and had very little defending to do for large parts of the season. Leicester spent huge periods of games in opposition territory and therefore reduced the amount of defending required from Faes and Jannik Vestergaard.

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Mistakes and more uninspiring performances followed in the Premier League, making it two relegations in three seasons. Despite not being the worst player on the pitch for Leicester, Faes' defending was always highlighted as a concern. He was, though, sporadically good, with his rash defending actually helping him in specific situations.

However, the almost-guaranteed reaction from the Belgian when a goal went in became a frustrating, though comedic, one among City supporters. No matter what happened before or as the goal went in, the 28-year-old often turned around in despair with both arms aloft, almost to ask, 'How has that happened?'.

There was also the incident on the opening day of the 2024/25 season. After a summer of speculation, Faes came off the bench in the 70th minute and was greeted with boos by the King Power Stadium. 17 minutes later, when he netted the winner against Sheffield Wednesday, he ran towards the City fans with his finger to his ear. Any chance of a 'clean slate' under Marti Cifuentes vanished there and then.

When Faes was granted a loan move to AS Monaco, all parties would have had their fingers crossed that that was it. Yet despite impressing in France, the Ligue 1 side again declined to sign him on a permanent basis and he returned to Seagrave.

In pre-season, he was back in Leicester colours under Russell Martin and even captained the Foxes at Bristol Rovers. But a move always seemed likely and, when Faes was excluded from selection at the start of the season, it seemed as though his time in England was coming to an end.

Interest from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar all came and went, with West Ham pulling out of a late move to take him on loan. When the transfer window closed and City had signed Warren O'Hora and Ilari Kangasniemi, Faes appeared to be fifth choice. That was turned on its head at Oakwell.

Martin had hinted that Faes would be brought back in when the time was right and after shipping three goals at Stockport County, the decision was made to start the Belgian next to O'Hora. It sparked outrage on social media and in the ground, with Faes booed relentlessly by supporters.

To no surprise, when Reyes Cleary smashed the ball past Alex McCarthy to make it 1-1, Faes produced one final arms-in-the-air reaction – although, on this occasion, with good reason, as O'Hora's pass had led to the equaliser

In reality, Faes should have left the club a long time ago. When Leicester were relegated from the Premier League in 2025, they should have done everything possible to move him on. Last January, the loan conditions meant Monaco could pull out of signing him permanently.

Under James McCarron and Jon Rudkin's stewardship this summer, though, the Belgian has been in the shop window all summer and despite the move to the UAE coming nearly four weeks since the window in England closed, it is another member of the squad who had become so unpopular with supporters who has departed.

Their summer rebuild was partly about removing the players associated with Leicester's recent decline and replacing them with a squad built for Martin. Faes leaving is another step in that process.

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