Leicester City must always love Luton Town for two transfer reasons | OneFootball

Leicester City and Luton Town both benefited from the transfer dealings of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and James Justin

Leicester City completed the signing of James Justin from Luton Town in the summer of 2019, whilst academy graduate Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall enjoyed a fruitful loan spell with the Hatters during the 2020/21 season, giving the Foxes two reasons to thank the Bedfordshire-based outfit.

Leicester’s demise in recent years is a prime example of just how quickly things can change in football.

Just less than ten years ago, the Foxes were crowned Premier League Champions, played Champions League football, won the FA Cup years later and were a consistent thorn in the side of the top six.

Now, they find themselves back in the second tier after a second relegation in three years, and are at serious risk of a third, hovering just above the bottom three in the Championship.

Savvy pieces of recruitment along their journey in the top flight included Harry Maguire from Hull City, Youri Tielemans from Monaco, and James Justin from Luton Town, who made the move to the King Power in an £8 million switch in the summer of 2019.

Just a year later, they would loan Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to the Hatters, where the midfielder would thrive at Kenilworth Road before establishing himself in the Foxes' first team shortly after, giving Leicester two big reasons to thank Luton over their transfer business.

Leicester City signed James Justin from Luton Town for a relatively small fee

Having just finished 9th in the Premier League, Leicester signed the likes of Tielemans, Ayoze Perez, and Denis Praet to bolster their ranks alongside the arrival of Justin.

The Englishman had just scored three and assisted eight in 43 League One games for Luton on their way to the third-tier title, and signed a five-year deal with the Foxes.

Capable of playing as either a left-back or right-back, Justin struggled to nail down a starting berth in the squad for his first four years at the King Power, with a variety of injuries and competition ahead of him in the form of Ricardo Pereira and Ben Chillwell restricting his minutes.

However, he would become a mainstay in the side in his final two seasons with the club, playing a pivotal role in their promotion back to the Premier League in 2024 and making 36 top-flight appearances during the 2024/25 season as Leicester were relegated again.

At 27, he’d leave run down his contract and join Leeds United on a free transfer following the Foxes' second relegation in three years, and although they did not recoup any money for him as they would have hoped, 169 appearances for the club across six years, including in Europe, as well as achieving an England cap, Leicester almost certainly got their moneys worth.

Everton midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall made 129 appearances for Leicester, having come through the club's academy, but it would be with Luton where he would make his mark and the club that the Foxes have to thank for his development.

The Englishman would head out on his first loan spell with Blackpool in League One for the second half of the 2019/20 season, scoring four and assisting one in just ten appearances, attracting interest from the second tier.

Dewsbury-Hall would eventually make the switch to Kenilworth Road on loan the following campaign, where he would very quickly become an integral player under Nathan Jones.

With the likes of Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu, George Moncur, Ryan Tunnicliffe, Glen Rea, and Jordan Clark for competition in the middle of the park, Dewsbury-Hall shone, as the Hatters comfortably avoided relegation and finished in 12th place.

The Englishman scored three and assisted six in 39 Championship games for the Bedfordshire outfit, providing him with the platform to go on and become the player he is today.

He’d make a reported £30 million move to Chelsea in the summer of 2024, winning the UEFA Europa Conference League and the Club World Cup with the Blues before once again being on the move the following summer, this time to Everton for a reported £29 million.