- Marcin Wasilewski to leave Leicester City at the end of the season
- The Polish defender has become a cult hero during four years with the Foxes
- Manager Craig Shakespeare hails ‘one of the best professionals I’ve worked with’
- Vice Chairman Top expresses his thanks and respect for a great servant
Leicester City will bid farewell to an outstanding Club servant this weekend, as Marcin Wasilewski calls time on his four-year spell with the Foxes.
The 36-year-old Polish defender will leave the Club at the end of this season, which concludes on Sunday with the Premier League visit of Bournemouth to King Power Stadium.
‘Wasyl’ has made a significant contribution to a golden era in Leicester City’s 133-year history – helping the Club from the Championship into the Champions League during four glorious seasons.
A popular figure throughout the Club since arriving in the summer of 2013 following a six-year spell with Anderlecht, his dedication, professionalism and winning mentality have made him one of the most highly-valued members of the squad and a cult hero among supporters.
Marcin plans to continue his playing career after he departs King Power Stadium.
Leicester City manager Craig Shakespeare said: “Marcin’s been an absolute pleasure to work with over the last four years. The influence he has had and the contribution he has made goes beyond what people see on the pitch. He’s one of the best professionals I’ve ever worked with.
“I remember when we signed Marcin – we knew we were getting a very experienced, international footballer with a lot of quality. But we also got an outstanding character, a leader and someone who would make everyone around him better with his relentlessly high standards every day.
“He’s been a terrific servant to the Club, deserves enormous thanks and our very best wishes for whatever comes next in his career.”
Leicester City Vice Chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha said: “On behalf of everyone at the Club and all our fans, I would like to thank Marcin for everything he has done for Leicester City.
“It takes a special kind of person to win the respect of everybody he meets – both through the quality of his work and his qualities as a man. Marcin is one of those people. There will always be a warm welcome for him at Leicester City.”
A former Poland international with 60 caps for his country, Wasilewski moved to Leicester after six years with Belgian club Anderlecht, where he built a similarly brilliant rapport with supporters for his high-class, committed performances.
During his first season at Leicester, as the Club strived for promotion from the Championship, he would regularly be personally supported by three-figure contingents of Anderlecht fans – travelling across the continent to show their respect for a departed hero.
Wasyl has made 76 appearances for City, all told, scoring twice – in a Premier League outing on a stage as grand as Old Trafford in January 2015 and in an FA Cup draw at Tottenham Hotspur almost exactly a year later.
His introduction to the side as part of a three-man central defence during the run-in was pivotal to City’s ‘Greatest Escape’ from relegation during the Club’s first season back in the Premier League in 2014/15.
He would also feature nine times during the Club’s Premier League-winning campaign a year later, including 90 minutes of that unforgettable 3-1 win over Everton on the evening the Foxes were crowned champions.
Marcin will depart with the very best wishes of the Board, management, players and staff of Leicester City Football Club, whom he has served with distinction in the last four years. He will always be welcome back as a guest, as a visiting player or as a friend of the Club.