City were rooted to the bottom of the Premier League on the first day of September, suffering their worst-ever Premier League start – losing six games in a row. Ever since Wout's distinctive silhouette first graced the corridors in Seagrave, though, something startling has happened.
Leicester have secured six shutouts. Only Arsenal and Newcastle United have more. They've also swelled their points tally to 17, climbing to 13th in the table. If the season started with Faes' home debut for the Club, a 4-0 win over rivals Nottingham Forest, the Foxes would be fourth.
Naturally, that transformational shift can be attributed to several factors, but you sense there is some causation at play too. City's Belgian centre-back added something new, fresh and crucial. His sheer enthusiasm is one of the first things you spot when talking to Leicester's new No.3.
"We were in the car, me and my wife, coming back from dinner," Wout says, recalling the moment he was told the Club wanted to sign him. "Leicester were following me for quite a long time actually. My agents were in contact with [Leicester City scout and former defender] Sean St Ledger.
"He was in contact a lot, so I knew there was interest, but there was interest from other teams also. It felt like I was high on their list anyway, if something happened. There was talk about me moving to Italy too but that didn’t happen. I was disappointed to be honest.
"But then, to have this team coming for me at the end [of the summer], I was very happy. Also my wife is very happy for me to be able to have this chance, it’s perfect. I’m settling in very nicely. The environment is amazing. The infrastructure is the best you can have. I don’t think I’ll ever have better again. This is top of the world in my opinion.
"I’m very happy to be here, it’s a dream to be here, and to play in the Premier League. On the field, I’m giving my 100 per cent because I know this is a unique opportunity that I’ve got. I need to take it with both hands."
Faes was born in Mol, on the outskirts of Antwerp in Belgium, but is now building a life with wife Linde in Rutland's picturesque countryside. Nestled in fields and trees, it's a classic vision of England which offers an escape from the daily pressures of Premier League football.
"We live in the countryside, me and my wife," he explains. "We prefer a calm life. In France and Belgium, we lived like this too. It’s beautiful and so calm. When you wake up, you can see the sun come up over the fields. It’s like the real picture of England we have in Belgium – that’s beautiful.
"We’re very happy so that’s the most important part."
Earlier this month, his reward for a stellar start to life in English football was a call from Belgium manager Roberto Martínez. Ahead of training in Seagrave, the Spaniard called Wout and broke the news that he was in his country's squad for the FIFA World Cup.
With only one cap to his name beforehand, it's a dream which may have felt quite distant back in August. Anyone in the Blue Army, though, will have been more surprised if he wasn't in the 26-man squad in Qatar.
We spoke to Faes before that call arrived, but even back then it was clear that international football was on his mind.
Second in the FIFA World Rankings, a chart they've often topped in recent years, the Red Devils are among the favourites this winter. Our conversation threatens to be derailed by memories of Zinedine Zidane's moment of madness in the 2006 final – one of Wout's earliest football memories – but talk of Belgium's 'golden generation' gets us back on track.
"There's been a change in mentality in Belgium," the former Stade de Reims defender says. "Before, they were not thinking too much about their own youth I would say, and now they give a lot of chances to young players. They can only become better when playing in top leagues.
"If they can do that in Belgium and don’t have to go abroad to other countries, it’s good I think. Hopefully they will feel like they can get chances and playing time. I think that can make a big difference.
"It took me a few times before I got my chance, but I was very happy. This is a moment you are looking for your whole life, to be called up. To be able to do it, it means a lot. Hopefully I can get some more minutes. To be able to do it in this team is something to be proud of.
"The ambition is being a starter – to be really involved. That’s the first thing for me."
Wout's introduction to Leicester City was made easier by the presence of fellow Belgians Youri Tielemans, Dennis Praet and Timothy Castagne at the Club.
His naturally confident personality helped too. Whether it was belting out John Denver’s Country Roads Take Me Home during his initiation performance, or those crunching tackles which are now commonplace, everyone from team-mates and supporters alike have welcomed him with open arms.
That sense of home, plus the aspirational environment of LCFC Training Ground and the fulfilled dream of playing in the Premier League makes Wout beam from ear to ear.
"I never experienced something like this," he adds. "I like it, to have fans who are really behind the team. You sense straight away that it makes a difference. [The Forest game] was the first time that I played there for these fans. It gives you an extra breath and I hope they will do this all year long!
"My home debut was a special night because it was a derby and the way we won was very good for us and for the fans at that time.
"The Premier League is the most viewed league in the world and straight away you feel that it’s the top of the top. It’s nice to be in that. Every game here is a high-standard game. Every team you play against, you can’t afford to relax for five minutes because you get punished.
"That’s the thing that has changed the most for me. You have to be fully focused for 90 minutes. It goes faster, there’s more quality, everything is one step up in every aspect. It’s good for me to be able to experience that."
To tell Faes' story, you have to go back to his childhood. Having watched on from the sidelines as his brother Brent starred for local side Kvv Rauw, Wout's climb began in earnest when he was invited to join in at the age of just four – "In Belgium, you can only start at five or six, but they told me it was okay as I was quite big and tall already!"
Before long, Wout was training in the academy at Lierse, a club near Antwerp whose first team played in Belgium's top tier at the time. Memories of that time are hazy, but Wout's father is happy to fill in the blanks and there's one tale which is now legend in the Faes family.
"He tells that story all the time!" he laughs. "I don't remember it, but apparently this happened. On the day that Lierse came to see me, we lost 10-2 or something. The coach, after this game, he was shouting at us: ‘Not one of you will ever be a football player!’
"I don't even remember the guy's face, but my dad says that I stood up and said back to him: 'No, you will see, I will be a football player!' Later on, my parents had the call to say that Lierse wanted to take me for a trial!"
It was at this time that Wout had to make a decision which would have a huge impact on his entire life. He was equally as good at tennis, but aspiring sports people often have to choose one path. They can't take two.
"The choice was very fast," he explains. "In everything, I felt like football was more for me. I was enjoying it so much and that’s why I made the choice – luckily it was a good one!"
Taking that path eventually led Wout to the Institute Saint Nicolas in Anderlecht, near to where he lived with another family in Brussels while training in the acclaimed Paars-wit academy: "Once I heard that they wanted me, straight away I said to my parents: 'I want to do this!'
"They were okay also because I had to move away from home to live somewhere else. They said: ‘If you want to do this, you have to do this’. I think Anderlecht is the best academy in Belgium for the youth in terms of education and on the pitch.
"It’s the best you can have in Belgium and even, in Europe, they have quite a high standard. We played in the Youth League and other nice international tournaments so that’s why I made this choice."
One of Wout's fellow pupils at the Institute was a young lad from Sint-Pieters-Leeuw... called Youri Tielemans.
"It's strange that we're together again today at Leicester!" Wout grins. "We played together a few times. That was in school years, at Anderlecht, when I was 14 I think. We skipped the classes and we would train for one hour in the mornings.
"These trainings were always with different age groups and Youri was also there. Also, when I went a category up, to play in games, Youri was there too – but usually he was always another category up!
"We didn’t play too much together because of that but we trained together a lot of times. It was quite funny to meet him back here in Leicester in the UK and for the Belgium national team."
As Faes' talent grew, it was becoming obvious that he would need to leave Anderlecht to earn experience in the professional game. Loan spells with SC Heerenveen and Excelsior Rotterdam in the Netherlands allowed him to do just that. A phone call from Gert Verheyen, the Oostende manager, would ultimately prove to be another decisive moment in the summer of 2018.
"I wanted to play, I felt like I was ready to play," he continued. "I went for one-and-a-half years on loan to two different teams and it was actually very good. For me, it was the first experience of being a pro player, in terms of starting in the XI. It benefited me very much as I could show myself.
"That’s why Oostende, who I joined later, came to get me after. They had seen me play in Holland already and they gave me a chance in Belgium.
"If I didn’t do that, I think I’d be somewhere else. I don’t think I’d have been on the same road. Gert, who was a former player from Bruges, had started his training career in Oostende. He called me straight away and said: ‘I need a centre-back and I need you to come!’
"I was very lucky that he called me and gave me the chance. I came there, I felt the confidence straight away, and from thereon, it’s going only in a positive way. He gave me the chance to play two years there and then I made a step to France and, after two years again, I’m here."
Faes was now a fully-fledged professional footballer. He wasn't content, though. He wanted more and he was prepared to work for it: "You feel like this is what you’ve been working for your whole life. Then it’s up to you to continue working and to show your dedication and then you get higher.
"It’s not a case of you being done when you have your first game. It’s not the end, it's the start. That’s my mindset because I have seen young players chase the first game and then they relax, but I always wanted more and I think that is why my career is going upwards."
Faes' leadership qualities have already been evident in his three months in England. You'll often see the 6ft 2ins Foxes star offering reassuring words of wisdom to his team-mates either in training or in match situations.
He developed this side of his game in France, at Stade de Reims, as he became a regular starter in Ligue 1 – a period of his life which he calls the 'perfect story'.
"Since I was young, I was the captain in all the youth teams," he explains. "In Oostende, at the end, I also became the team captain while only 20 years-old. I then went to France and, for me, it was very important to go into a top-five league. I had Reims who were really eager to get me.
"I felt straight away that there was playing chances and it gave me a lot of confidence. I played from the first moment so that was good.
"Obviously, when you’re playing, it gets better. You get more confidence. You get more leadership as well because the team accepts you if you play good, so it was the perfect step. I have only benefited from it – and them also – so I think it was a perfect story for me at Reims.
"I am not a big shouter. I think it’s more naturally. I feel more focused if I speak a lot. I only try to help. All the teams where I’ve been, they’ve accepted it, and they benefited from it, so I hope to do the same here."
If Wout does indeed feature for Belgium in Qatar this winter, the Foxes faithful will be watching on proudly from back in the UK. His never-say-die attitude has won them over in just three months.
"Once I step on the pitch, it’s all or nothing," he says. "There’s no grey zone. It’s 200 per cent commitment because you need to be proud to be here and give it your all. You can’t afford to think you can give 80 per cent. This doesn’t exist in my head.
"I try to take responsibility on the pitch because the coach gives you the chance, the Club gives you the chance, and then it’s up to you to take the chance. They will never see me not fighting for the cause, that’s what they can always expect from me. I will always give my all."