The 17-year-old attacking midfielder made his second senior appearance on Tuesday but was then carried off after a studs-up challenge in the FA Youth Cup on Wednesday night
Leicester City will consider loaning out Will Alves to ramp up his development and mold him into a first-team star. But in the short term, the 17-year-old needs to be assessed after he was the victim of a horror tackle in City’s FA Youth Cup win over Wolves.
Alves is one of the highest-rated prospects in City’s academy and made his second senior appearance on Tuesday night, playing the final 15 minutes of the 3-0 Carabao Cup victory over MK Dons. He was straight back into action on Wednesday evening, representing the Under-18s as they got their FA Youth Cup campaign started.
Alves was at the heart of the action as City scored twice in extra-time to win 3-1 and set up a fourth-round tie at Sheffield Wednesday. But Alves did not complete the match.
READ MORE: What isn’t seen about Youri Tielemans as Leicester City retain hope over Arsenal target
READ MORE: Leicester City Q+A: January transfer plans, Azzedine Ounahi, Caglar Soyuncu, Newcastle
With 10 minutes to play in extra-time, and with City heading to victory after Amani Richards and Ben Grist had found the net, Alves was hit with a studs-up challenge to his upper shin by Wolves defender Caden Voice. Alves went down in pain, while the tackle caused a melee between the two sets of players, with the referee showing Voice a straight red card.
Alves was helped off the pitch by two City physios and will undergo assessments to determine the nature of any injury. Manager Brendan Rodgers should be able to provide an update at Friday’s press conference.
In the long term, a loan that moves away will be considered for Alves. He has been training with the first team and the club has been impressed by his growing maturity on the ball, but he may need to get away to receive the game-time that could elevate his performance.
Speaking after Alves’ cameo at MK Dons, assistant manager Chris Davies said: “It’s really positive for him, the academy, the club, that he came on again. He has played for the first team before.
“He’s been training very well actually, in Abu Dhabi and at Seagrave. You can see his development, his improvements, which is really positive. With these young players, it’s about their development and having them around the first-team environment as much as possible, exposing them to game time if possible.
“It’s usually a loan pathway for these guys, that’s part of their next step, so that’s something that everyone will look at and discuss in terms of Will’s development. We’re just pleased with how he’s playing and the condition he’s in at the moment.
“When he came on, although he didn’t have a lot of the ball, you could see his maturity in his contributions. He knew when to play two-touch when to dribble, and when to make runs, you can see he’s improving. It was really good.”
Alves became the fifth-youngest player in City history when he made his debut as a 16-year-old in January, coming on in the 4-1 win over Watford in the FA Cup. He said after making his second appearance against MK Dons: “Another great experience last night, delighted to get some minutes and topped off with a great team performance.”
