Louis Page: The golden boy providing the bright spark for Leicester City and Russell Martin

The son of former Wigan and Rotherham forward Don Page, the youngster was born in Leicestershire and joined the Foxes' youth system at the age of nine, quickly emerging as one of the brightest talents in his age group.

During the 2023-24 season, Page was already orchestrating the midfield for Leicester’s Under-16s and soon broke into the U18s. By the following campaign, still only 16, he made the step up to the U21 Development Squad.

His obvious talent was recognised in October 2024 when The Guardian named him one of the top 20 prospects across Premier League academies.

Page validated that hype by routinely outclassing older opponents in Premier League 2 throughout the rest of the season. It was no surprise, then, when he was crowned the club’s Academy Player of the Year.

In August of last year, he was handed his senior debut in a Carabao Cup tie against Huddersfield Town, and went on to make his first league appearance against Charlton 10 days later. His first assist followed in a 2-0 win against Birmingham, and a month later he signed his first professional contract.

He went on to make 18 Championship appearances during the 2025-26 season, cementing his place in the senior setup and showing a rare tactical understanding for his age. Marti Cifuentes, who handed him his senior debut, made no secret of how highly he rated Page.

"I'm a big believer in Louis," he told reporters. "He'll be important, I'm sure. I'm a big believer of his quality. I think in my career, I’ve done decently with young players and hopefully I can help him become a very important player for Leicester in the future."

Page’s rapid adaptation to senior football culminated in him being named the Championship Apprentice of the Season, a magnificent achievement considering his team were relegated, but further confirmation of his potential.

His elevated status and Leicester’s continued decline almost resulted in his departure, with Manchester United and Arsenal interested. Talks began with the Red Devils over the summer and The Athletic reports Leicester were pushing for a potential £15 million. It was expected he would be loaned back for a season, but no deal materialised.

If the deadline-day breakdown of that transfer upset the midfielder, he didn’t show it. He has since become a vital cog in new manager Martin’s possession-based, trademark style.

The transition brought immense, immediate pressure as Leicester scraped two points from their opening three league matches, but the Foxes have found some stability. With his quick-thinking, attack-first mindset, reliability on the ball and movement out of possession, Page has been key in their development.

He helped them on their way to a first league win with an assist against Plymouth. Drifting from the congested midfield to the left wing to make himself available for a pass, he feigned a cross to disguise his pass to Will Alves on the edge of the box for a deflected finish.

Less than two weeks later, with Leicester needing an immediate response to a 4-0 trouncing at home to Oxford, Page proved decisive as they took a 4-1 lead against Stockport. After sliding into space in the middle of Stockport’s half, the midfielder acted instantly as the ball came towards him, playing a perfectly-weighted pass straight to Liam Cullen, who turned with it and fired in.

He was unlucky not to get an assist for their second, too. Charging forward and luring a defender into closing him down after receiving the ball in his own half, Page managed to work the ball forwards via a deflection, allowing Emil Riis to chase it down and apply the finish. In the second-half, meanwhile, his deadly corner towards the back post was headed in by John Lundstram.

Page gives himself an advantage on the ball by use of his exceptional spatial awareness. Whenever Leicester are in possession, he is constantly scanning his surroundings, looking over both shoulders to gain a clear understanding of his options.

As the ball comes his way, it appears he already has a clear idea of what he wants to do with it. His first instinct is a forward pass to cut through opponents and create a chance for his side as quickly as possible.

That was evident in a chance he created against Plymouth as well as his in first assist against Stockport - a quick scan instantly followed by a straightforward pass. There is beauty in its simplicity.

His agility, awareness and quick thinking make him difficult for opponents to contain. He can outfox high-pressing teams and dance through them, but give him too much room and he'll find a pass to unlock the defence.

His delivery from set-pieces is dangerous, too, having technically set up their opener in the Carabao Cup loss to Ipswich this season and whipped one in off the head of Lundstram against Stockport.

Having turned 18 in July, Page is still developing the physical profile to match his many strengths. He can still be overpowered in physical duels and battles for the second-ball.

The risk-taking nature of Martin’s system places massive defensive demands on the midfield. When playing in a deeper role, Page still needs to refine his positioning defensively to protect their vulnerable backline.

While scoring goals is not the midfielder’s main objective, his shooting technique still needs improvement if he is to keep taking occasional efforts from outside the box.

Leicester has been anything but a stable environment over the last few years. After the early performances under Martin, fans feared another startling relegation may be more likely than a return to the Championship this time around.

As a promising teenager looking to develop in the best possible way, it is no wonder Page was open to the advances of United or Arsenal during the summer.

"I was obviously fully focused anyway on Leicester, but I think now that it's (the transfer window) shut, I know that I'm staying here, everyone knows that I'm staying here," he told BBC Radio Leicester last month. "So that talk can be put to rest and everyone's just focused on me playing for Leicester now."

While the jury is still out on Martin and the style he lives by, results have stabilised and the trust he has shown in Page has provided a clear lift to the youngster.

"Definitely a lot of confidence, he’s brought that to me," he said in July. "It’s been really good. The manager has given me lots of confidence to go and play, whether in the six or eight. He’s given me real good confidence to play my football."

Since then, Page has risen drastically in Martin’s estimations. It was the 18-year-old who was handed the captain’s armband in the absence of defender Harry Souttar in their most recent League One game against Barnsley.

"Being focused and stuff, the manager has helped me loads with that, he said that he wants me to stay here and he believes that I can develop into the player that I hopefully will be one day, and I believe that he will get me there as well," he said.

Developing into a leadership role already, the homegrown hero is determined to help lift the club out of muck and mire, telling BBC: "Leicester have given me everything, they've given me the opportunities to play in the first team and I feel like I've repaid that and we've gone down, so now I've got to give back to the academy staff that got me into the first team, the first team coaches that have given me the chance. I've now got to take that responsibility and get the club back into the Championship."

He added: "We're the players [the academy products], we've seen where this club has been, I'd go as a kid, watch them in the Premier League, Champions League and I think 'I want to do that with Leicester'. I think that's the same with Sammy [Braybrooke], Bade [Aluko], Will [Alves] as well, we all want to do that.

"I think it's personal for us that we're in this situation and it's now on us to take the club out of it and get them back to where they belong."

Even if Leicester don't make it out of League One this season, Page will, but he won't be the last one off the conveyer belt of the Foxes' famous production line.