Leicester City player expected to draw January transfer interest - he earns £50k-per-week | OneFootball

With the 2026 World Cup looming and his place in the Belgium team at risk, defender Wout Faes could attract interest in the transfer window.

Belgium international defender Wout Faes of Leicester City could be the subject of transfer speculation in January, if he's looking to go to next summer's World Cup.

The Leicester City centre-back is expected to receive interest in January ahead of the World Cup in North America, where he will be looking to keep his place in a competitive Belgium squad.

The 28-year-old has been left out of the last three Belgium international squads by head coach Rudi Garcia, and with two extremely winnable matches against Kazakhstan and Liechenstein left to play, it's almost certain that they will be heading across the Atlantic next summer.

But one of Garcia's apparent policies when it comes to selecting his squads could mean that Faes misses out on a place in the squad altogether, all of which makes the possibility of a January move all the more likely.

Belgium head coach Garcia "has not been selecting those that are playing outside of a top-level division" - it's impacted Leicester City's Wout Faes

The Leicester Mercury reports that Wout Faes could be the subject of considerable transfer speculation after having lost his place in the Belgium national team squad.

They report that Rudi Garcia "has not been selecting those that are playing outside of a top-level division", and that this means that the defender, who's on £50,000-a-week at Leicester according to Capology estimates, could be the subject of a move elsewhere in the new year if he is serious about making the Belgium squad next summer.

Faes' issues don't end there. He has slipped down the pecking order at The King Power Stadium, to the extent that of his twelve appearances for Leicester so far this season, only six have been starts. This would be enough of a problem for him even if the Belgium head coach was selecting players from below Europe's top divisions for his squads. The fact that he isn't only compounds the matter for the defender.

Wout Faes has struggled to hold down a first-team place at Leicester this season

Wout Faes was an established Belgium international defender, and has won 28 caps for his country. But he has missed out on every Belgium squad since Leicester's relegation from the Premier League at the end of last season.

This wasn't an issue the last time that Leicester were in the Championship, during the 2023-24 season. Then managed by Domenico Tedesco, Faes was a regular starter in the Belgium team and made 16 appearances for them throughout that season, featuring in all four of their matches in the finals, where they were knocked out in the Round of 16 by France.

With the Foxes having returned to the Premier League, Faes retained his Belgium place throughout the 2024-25 season despite Tedesco being relieved of his duties in January 2025 and replaced by Rudi Garcia, but his last appearance for the national team came in June, and he hasn't even been included in the squad for the three international breaks so far this season.

This issue has been compounded by the fact that Faes has been slipping down the pecking order at The King Power Stadium this season as well. He was left on the bench for Leicester's first five matches of the season, and although he made his first start of the season for them against Coventry City in September, a run of six straight games in the first team came to a halt following their 2-1 defeat at Hull City last month.

All of this raises the question of whether the defender will want to stay at The King Power Stadium beyond the January transfer window. Leicester, whose financial issues have been well-documented, may be happy to get a £50,000-a-week player off their wage budget and bring in some ready cash.

Faes himself may also feel that he'd benefit from a move to a top division club - though it seems likely that there would not be huge interest in him from the Premier League, given that he's been struggling to retain a first-team place in the Championship this season - in order to fight his way back into Rudy Garcia's plans ahead of the World Cup.

A move abroad, however, could work for both parties. At 28 years of age, these should be the peak years of Faes' playing career. Slipping from both contention with the Belgium team and the Leicester team will not be the way he intended this season to go.