It seemed for all the world that Hamza Choudhury was going to leave Leicester for Newcastle on deadline day.
The Magpies were linked with the midfielder all month according to the Chronicle, whilst Steve Bruce confirmed his interest late in the window.
He told the Chronicle on January 29th: “He’s somebody we’ve liked, and it’s been reported.”
However, a deal collapsed on deadline day. The Foxes were unable to sign a replacement, as their injury woes forced Choudhury to stay put.
Bruce did add Arsenal’s Joe Willock to his squad, and hopefully he can have an impact between now and the end of the season.
Choudhury has immediate impact after missing out on Newcastle move
As for Choudhury, he started for Leicester on Wednesday night just days after a move to Newcastle collapsed, and showed exactly what we missed out on.
The 23-year-old came into the team for the injured Wilfred Ndidi for just his second league start of the season, and performed brilliantly in Leicester’s 2-0 win over Fulham.
Choudhury played an hour at Craven Cottage but was a calming presence in front of the defence, and moved the ball quickly to help launch attacks from deep.
Newcastle have often been ponderous in possession, and it cost them on Tuesday night against Crystal Palace.
There was no rhythm to our passing, allowing Palace to get back into their shape and reduce the space.
Just a day later, Choudhury showed straight away what an impact he could have had at St James’ Park, completing 79% of his passes. But more importantly, it was how he passed it. So many times he looked to pop off one-touch passes, something of an alien concept to Bruce’s Newcastle.
He also completed six ball recoveries, proving he was up to the task defensively.
While Newcastle have slightly improved in recent games, it appears as though we still haven’t got the balance in midfield right.
Hopefully Willock’s arrival can help that, but it was clear against Fulham that Choudhury certainly would have been an excellent signing.
Instead, he stayed at Leicester, and the Foxes faithful were certainly impressed.
Leicester fans hail Choudhury’s impact vs Fulham
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