Enzo Maresca’s exit “wasn’t the best” for the Leicester City defender

Enzo Maresca’s exit has thrown Harry Souttar’s Leicester City future up in the air yet again, his international boss believes.

The centre-back fell out of favor with Maresca, City claimed the Championship title and a summer exit for the Aussie looked inevitable. But now Maresca has moved to Chelsea, Souttar could have a new opportunity at the King Power Stadium under a new manager.

For Socceroos boss Graham Arnold, that’s not necessarily a good thing. He is desperate for the 25-year-old to get regular game time and was happier when a move was in the works. Now Souttar’s situation at City is once again uncertain.

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“I’ve already had a good chat with him,” Arnold said ahead of Australia’s 2-0 World Cup qualifier win over Bangladesh on Thursday. “It was probably not the best thing for him because if the manager had stayed it was probably clearer what his decision might have been. But with a new manager coming in, it could be completely different.

“Once again, Harry is here, looking great and continuing to promote himself. But, as I said, once he gets back to the UK after this camp, he really needs to sort out his club career because it’s been, after his ACL injury and this year, two big years of football where he played hard.

“And it’s a very important time in his playing career, mid-20s, where you learn and mature and get stronger and it takes you into your 30s. So it’s a big year coming up for Harry. “

Souttar has made just four appearances for City this season, with Maresca preferring Wout Faes, Jannik Vestergaard, Conor Coady and Ben Nelson at the heart of his defence. Vestergaard is likely to sign a new contract, meaning the new manager will have all five centre-backs to choose from.

A permanent move away looks unlikely for Souttar just 18 months after his £15million move from Stoke. For City to make a profit on his deal in their accounts then they would need to sell for at least £11m and so a loan switch would be more likely.

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