Leicester and England wonderkid Jeremy Monga, 15, snubs Man City interest to stay at King Power Stadium

LEICESTER CITY have signed 15-year-old starlet Jeremy Monga on a bumper new contract in a major coup for the Championship club.

The news will come as a blow to Manchester City and a string of other Premier League and top continental clubs who were desperate to snap up the teenage prodigy.

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Jeremy Monga has signed a professional contract with Leicester[/caption]

The winger became the second youngest player ever to appear in the Premier League earlier this season when he came on as a substitute against Newcastle.

And he went on to make seven Premier League appearances for Ruud van Nistelrooy‘s relegated Foxes.

That sparked interest from Euro giants Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich as well as interest closer to home, led by Man City.

Foxes fans feared Monga would be snapped up before he fulfilled his potential at the King Power.

City could have swooped before he was old enough to sign his first professional contract aged 17 and Leicester would only have received a nominal fee as compensation for developing the young talent. 

However that would have been worth a fraction of the kid’s true value.

Now Leicester have protected their investment by convincing the 15-year-old winger to sign a new scholarship contract with a professional clause that kicks in when he reaches his 17th birthday in July next year.

Monga, who joined Leicester’s Academy as a nine-year-old, will now begin his Academy scholarship this summer with his first pro contract kicking in by the summer of 2026.

Despite being just 15 years old, Monga has already featured for the Foxes first team during the 2024/25 season.

It means the teenager will be around next season to try and help Leicester return to the Premier League at the first attempt and comes as a huge boost to the relegated Foxes.

Leicester are also on the brink of signing fellow teenager Jake Evans on a similar deal.

“It’s important to have these players for the future for a longer time. I think he will be very good for the club,” said Van Nistelrooy at the end of last season.

Polish goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk has seen his contract extended by the Club to 2027 after an impressive campaign that saw the 24-year-old Academy graduate collect 10 Premier League appearances.

In total Leicester signed up nine Academy graduates as they prepare for life back in the Championship.

But Monga’s deal is by far the most significant as it keeps him out of the clutches of Europe‘s leading clubs.

Following a 16-minute debut off the bench against Newcastle in the Premier League, Monga went on to make a further six league appearances for the club under Van Nistelrooy.

A club statement said: “Nine exciting young talents from our Academy will extend their stays with Leicester City after a combination of new contracts, extension options and scholarship agreements were confirmed…

“Meanwhile, Jeremy Monga has committed to commencing his professional career as a Leicester City player, with an agreement now in place to secure the talented teenager’s future at King Power Stadium.

“Jeremy will begin his Academy scholarship this summer with his first professional contract scheduled to commence in summer 2026.

“Our second-youngest appearance maker and the second-youngest player in Premier League history, having made the first of his seven Premier League appearances against Newcastle United in April, aged 15 years and 271 days, Jeremy is among an exciting group currently progressing on our Academy pathway, which he joined as an Under-9.”

The versatile winger has been captain of England‘s Under-16s too and trained with City’s U-21s squad as a result of his potential.

But that only helped to catch the eye of some of Europe’s top clubs, with City among those who were hoping to tie up a move this summer.

Monga almost made history by becoming the youngest ever Premier League goalscorer against Nottingham Forest, only to be denied by Matz Sels.

Van Nistelrooy was boisterous on his future and said at the time: “That would have been some story if Jeremy could have topped his exam week with a winner away at Forest.

“If he stays here and this is his future we can build more minutes into his pathway.

“I’ve had many conversations with him and his family. And so hopefully he can sign soon – it’s up to him. 

“It’s a joy to work with him and sometimes we speak about GCSEs and mathematics. I even have to help him with his studies sometimes!

“But if he had scored the winner against Forest that would have been a real fairytale.”