Esteban Cambiasso Actually Played for Leicester City

The Fox in the Box-To-Box

Esteban Cambiasso was a versatile, intelligent, box-to-box midfielder whose footballing ability made up for his lack of hair. 

The Inter Milan Hall of Fame inductee won fifty-two caps for Argentina and, before his retirement, won twenty-one official titles, including five Serie A titles, a La Liga title and a Champions League title. 

However, prior to his aforementioned retirement, 'Cuchu' had a stint at the East Midlands' own, Leicester City. 

Cambiasso joined The Foxes on the 28th of August 2014, eleven days into the 2014/15 Premier League season. The Argentine joined Nigel Pearson's side as a free agent, having not been offered a contract extension by Inter Milan. 

Leicester had just been promoted to the Premier League as Second Division champions. In contrast, Cambiasso had just made thirty-two appearances for an Inter Milan side that finished fifth in the Serie A. So, the transfer came as somewhat of a surprise for football fans. 

However, just because Cambiasso was both a seasoned veteran and a serial winner, it did not automatically mean he would be a success in the Premier League. Furthermore, Leicester City did not have the luxury of an adaptation period for new players; the Argentine would not have been afforded time if his stint with The Foxes were to have replicated transfers such as George Weah to Chelsea in 2000 or Maicon to Manchester City in 2012.

Cambiasso joined as the oldest midfield player by four years and the only recognised defensive midfielder aside from youth prospect Ryan Watson. Therefore, even more pressure was placed upon the ex-Inter Milan captain, as it was likely that he would need to play a forefront role in Leicester's season. 

And a forefront role he played, featuring in thirty-one out of a possible thirty-six league games he was eligible for, starting twenty-seven. 

Cambiasso's first appearance came in the form of a substitute performance away at Stoke City, where he slotted into the vacant defensive midfield pivot of a 4-4-2 left by fan favourite and academy graduate, Andy King. Cambiasso helped The Foxes achieve their first win back in the top-flight, as a sixty-fourth-minute goal from fellow Argentine, Leonardo Ulloa, was enough to take three points back to the King Power Stadium. 

Cambiasso's second appearance, though, would not be so routine. Leicester welcomed Manchester United to the King Power Stadium, a United side who were experiencing the hangover of a seventh-place finish the previous season and a side who had only collected five points from their opening four games. 

Nevertheless, the task presented to Leicester would still be onerous, as Manchester United boasted a squad with the foundations of the title-winning side of 2012/13, along with further starlet additions such as Juan Mata and Ángel Di María. 

Cambiasso had the assignment of attempting to detain said players as he was operating as the lone defensive midfield anchor of a 4-3-3. A role the Argentine was not necessarily as familiar with, as whilst at Inter, he had usually been deployed with midfield cover in formations such as the 4-3-1-2 or 4-5-1. 

It was looking bleak for Cambiasso and The Foxes early on, as after only sixteen minutes, they found themselves two goals behind courtesy of a Robin Van Persie header and an audacious Ángel Di María chip. 

However, six goals later, Leicester had secured a remarkable 5-2 in a modern-day Premier League classic. Cambiasso managed to find himself on the score sheet, netting Leicester's third and equalising goal. A finish resembling that of a classic poacher. A deflection off team-mate Jamie Vardy fell before the Argentine around a crowd of United defenders, leaving him no choice but to hit a first-time strike. A strike that found itself in the bottom left corner of De Gea's net. 

This victory meant that Leicester had gained eight points from their opening five games. The insurmountable task of survival was starting to look somewhat surmountable. Yet twenty-four games, two wins and eleven points later, Leicester found themselves bottom of the table and seven points from safety with only nine fixtures remaining. 

The script seemed written for The Foxes and it was a story seen many times before, a newly promoted outfit being banished back to the Championship at the earliest opportunity. But it seemed that Nigel Pearson's side had not read said script, as in the fixtures that followed, his Leicester side pulled off what is widely regarded as one of the Premier League's greatest survival stories.

Seven wins and one draw in the final nine fixtures, only losing to eventual champions Chelsea. Cambiasso was pivotal in The Foxes' "Great Escape", starting all nine games and playing the full ninety minutes in seven, whilst scoring twice and providing the game-winning assist in a relegation six-pointer away at West Bromwich Albion. 

It wasn't only his attacking capabilities that assisted in Leicester's fairytale run-in, as, usually in a double pivot with King, Cambiasso helped Leicester to five clean sheets in their final nine fixtures.

Cambiasso scored in Leicester's final game, a 5-1 thrashing of already relegated Queens Park Rangers, finalising The Foxes' fourteenth place finish, six points north of the relegation zone. 

The Argentine was aptly named Leicester City's Player of the Year and was arguably one of the league's most important signings that season. He was offered an extension, as he only signed on a one-year deal in the summer of 2014, but declined, opting to join Greek champions Olympiacos.

Leicester fans were rightly disappointed about Cambiasso's departure. However, in retrospect, his exit was necessary, as it freed a space that was filled by N'Golo Kanté, who played a vital role in Leicester's 5000-1 title-winning campaign the following season. 

Cambiasso is still seen as a cult hero at Leicester City, as his efforts that season aided in Leicester remaining in the Premier League and becoming a permanent First Division outfit for the next eight years, playing European football on three occasions in addition to winning three trophies along the way. 

In 2024, the Argentine was named as one of the 'Top 100 Outstanding Players to Represent Leicester City' by the club. 

A monumental achievement to add to his already impressive résumé.