Leicester City and OH Leuven need to follow Brighton and Monaco’s lead | OneFootball

OH Leuven have had a pretty terrible start to the 2025/2026 Pro League campaign. The side are currently bottom of the table after three games and have shipped 10 goals in that time. Under new head coach David Hubert it appears that, so far at least, little has changed. The side have been underperforming for a few seasons now, despite having great infrastructure in place off the pitch. Like other clubs in the Pro League, they are linked to another club through ownership. This is Leicester City, now back in the Championship. In the past, there had been movement from the English club to OH Leuven. That has really dried up in recent years, with Nathaniel Opoku the last to make the move from Leicester City to Belgium in 2022/2023.

Perhaps, with Opoku not being a success, the sides decided to operate even more independently of each other. Yet, this is an avenue both really could revisit. OH Leuven should certainly not become just a ‘Leicester City’ in Belgium, but they could be used as a means for the English club to be more ambitious in recruitment and give younger players a pathway to the first team outside of the U23 side. Kamal Sowah was the biggest success of this in recent years, earning a move to Club Brugge after impressing for OH Leuven. The 25-year-old has struggled somewhat since, but the point remains that using the relationship between Leicester City and OH Leuven can be beneficial.

To be frank, OH Leuven’s recruitment has been poor in recent seasons. They have not found a striker since Mario Gonzales was loaned to the side by Braga back in the 2022/2023 season. They have brought in forwards, and spent a fair amount of money on them, but none have hit double figures in a campaign. The defence is also constantly being added to every season, but never appears to be much better and this season looks as poor as ever. Could these two areas not be addressed by using the relationship between OH Leuven and Leicester City?

In midfield, the side are pretty set and have actually had some success in recent years with the signing of Ezechiel Banzuzi, who ended up going to RB Leipzig for a decent fee. However, the Banzuzi signing is just one in an ocean of players who have come and gone, many arriving in the summer and then leaving by the next window. Five players have joined this window already, and judging by performances so far, a few more may be needed. Surely there is a player or two in Leicester’s U23 system that could help?

Hubert clearly has his work cut out for him, not that he didn’t know that already. It is still early days, but if things continue down this road it is unlikely he will be there in a few months time. Many have tried since Marc Brys left to get OH Leuven to where they should really be, but none have succeeded. At some point the recruitment and overall footballing strategy needs to be questioned as to why it does not create an environment where any coaches can succeed.

With Leicester City having bounced out of the Premier League twice in the last three years, perhaps both sides could come together again and work out how the relationship they have could be used to benefit both.

Cercle had found a way to do the same with Monaco that didn’t require them to take on more than a handful of players every season. Both sides train together for periods over the summer, before players unlikely to get a chance in Ligue 1 are given the opportunity to go to Belgium for a season. Some have then gone back to play for the first team, while others that have impressed are even then sold by Monaco for a profit. Two seasons ago Félix Lemaréchal really impressed for Cercle and ended up being sold by Monaco on his return for €6m to Strasbourg.

Union St Gilloise have done the same with Brighton, with the likes of Karou Mitoma having benefited immensely from his time in Belgium. Union have always maintained they are a separate entity from Brighton, but the relationship between the sides has allowed players unable to get work permits in the UK to spend time developing in Belgian football. This works well for two sides that are at the forefront of footballing recruitment in their respective countries and keen to develop young talent.

Both sides show that it can be done without removing the identity of the Belgian side, while the Belgian clubs are not under pressure to play these players if they end up not being up to standard. Yet, for both Cercle and Union, many have been either fantastic squad editions of starters. With the pressure to get into the Premier League and remain there so high, Leicester City need to focus on players that can contribute now. However, OH Leuven give them an avenue through which they can sign players for the future who may be good, but not quite ready.

Clearly, something at OH Leuven needs to change. This could be the easiest change to make given the relationship already exists.

GBeNeFN | Ben Jackson