At the age of 16, the attacking midfielder played for Brendan Rodgers’ first squad in pre-season and was a substitute in a Europa League match against Sporting Braga.
Ethan Fitzhugh, a Leicester City Under-21s midfielder, has signed a permanent deal with Banbury United, the National League North club has announced.
Fitzhugh, who rose to prominence at City after appearing in a pre-season game at the age of 16, has been a fixture in the youth squad for several years. But he is now on his way to a sixth-tier club in Oxfordshire.
After catching Brendan Rodgers’ eye in training, attacking midfielder Fitzhugh played for City in a pre-season friendly at Cheltenham in the summer of 2019, when he was only 16 years old. In 2020, he was on the bench for a Europa League match against Braga but did not play.
He leaves City without having made a senior appearance but having been a regular member of Ben Petty’s development squad for several years. He scored four goals in 35 Premier League 2 and EFL Trophy appearances. His last game was a year ago, in January 2023, when he tore his ACL.
Fitzhugh has healed and hopes to resume his senior career with Banbury. There, he meets former City academy striker Adi Yussuf, who has been juggling playing and coaching at Seagrave, assisting Petty with the Under-21s.
“Ethan came to our attention through Adi Yussuf’s work with Leicester City’s U21s,” Banbury manager Mark Jones remarked. He is a bright attacking midfielder who can hopefully provide us with the final-third inventiveness we have been looking for.”
