The Sam Greenwood stat that may be attracting Leicester City to Leeds United man – he was 7th in Championship 24/25 for it
Leicester City are on the hunt to bring in some new, young attacking players ahead of the 2025/26 season as they prepare for life without Jamie Vardy.
One player who they have been linked with is Leeds United’s Sam Greenwood, who has spent the last two seasons away from Elland Road on loan at Middlesbrough and, more recently, Preston North End.
On the basis of things, this may look like an uninspired signing. With Leicester looking to bounce back up to the Premier League, bringing in someone who has been deemed not good enough for a promotion-battling side under Daniel Farke in the last two seasons isn’t something that would get Foxes fans excited.
But Greenwood has shown over the past couple of campaigns that he is one of the better creative talents in the Championship, and at just 23 years old, there’s obvious scope for improvement if he were given the opportunity to play in a top side.
Sam Greenwood finished in the top-10 for big chances created in the 2024/25 Championship season
This past season, despite playing for a Preston North End side which struggled massively towards the end of the campaign and scored just 48 goals, Sam Greenwood’s creativity shone.
The former Arsenal and Sunderland youth product created 14 big chances in the Championship last season, according to FotMob, which placed him seventh in the entire division.
Greenwood only managed three assists across the campaign, but ended with an expected assist tally of 5.26, proving that he was still creating at a decent rate.
His numbers may have dried up towards the end of the season during Preston’s poor spell, which saw them win just one of their final 15 league games of the campaign, but Greenwood has proven that he can provide that creative spark consistently at Championship level.
A set-piece specialist and one for a long-range goal too, many Championship teams could do much worse than Greenwood this upcoming season.
Sam Greenwood represents an affordable, solid option for Leicester City
Leicestershire Live reported that Preston did have the option to make Sam Greenwood’s loan deal permanent at the end of last season for £1.5 million.
If they don’t exercise that option, then the 23-year-old will likely be on the market for around that much, given the versatile attacking midfielder has just one year left on his current Leeds deal.
Greenwood has played in 76 of the 92 Championship games across the last two seasons, scoring ten and assisting a further six. They’re not numbers that make you jump out of your seat, but they are pretty solid and should have Championship sides sniffing around for his services.
After Leicester were charged with allegedly breaching the EFL’s financial rules, they may need to look at cheaper options who could do a serviceable job at Championship level this summer. If this proves to be the case, Sam Greenwood falls into that category.
At 23, he still has room to improve, and his positional versatility and set-piece threat make him a great option for any Championship side looking to find a good deal in the current transfer window.
