Anyone who watched Wout Faes at Leicester City may have felt surprised to see him in the Champions League with Monaco this week. Kees Kwakman certainly shared that reaction.
He’s been talking about the former Leicester City defender today, via Fean Online. And he couldn’t hide his surprise at seeing the 27-year-old starring in Europe’s big club competition.
Faes endured a disastrous time at Leicester after arriving for £15m in 2022, to replace Wesley Fofana.
Positive start
Signed from Reims on deadline day that summer, he made his debut in a 6-2 loss to Tottenham Hotspur and initially looked like a smart signing despite that result.
He quickly established himself as a key defensive figure, with Leicester keeping five clean sheets in their next seven matches.
He stuck with the Foxes through relegation and promotion, but he failed to win over the fans.
The fans developed a love‑hate relationship with the Belgian, whose Premier League spells featured several high‑profile errors.
The biggest of those was two own goals in a defeat to Liverpool in 2022. By 2024 and 2025 fan sentiment had turned increasingly hostile following defensive displays labelled as comical.
Hostile at Leicester
Things eventually became hostile, with boos from the stands and Faes responding by cupping his ears to the Leicester fans after scoring a winner against Sheffield Wednesday.
He departed in the January transfer window, joining Ligue 1 side Monaco. That means he’s now in the Champions League, something that Kwakman was astounded by this week.
“I just see Wout Faes in the lineup again. He must have a really good agent,” he said on ESPN’s Voetbalpraat.
“Last year at Leicester it was a hit every week. Playing at that level doesn’t mean you can’t play football. But I find it remarkable that he’s playing for such clubs. “
Last year, he was relegated ingloriously with Leicester, diving under a ball every week, and now he’s back at a decent club.”
