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Khanya Leshabela from Leicester City.
A delighted Brendan rodgers Sunday praised his Leicester city side after a dominant 5-0 conquer Sheffield United and a special compliment reserved for the young South African midfielder Thakgalo Leshabela who made his debut.
READ | Young South African follows Percy Tau to make his Premier League debut in Leicester win
Speaking to LCFC TV after the game, Rodgers had words of encouragement for the young South African midfielder who was introduced as a substitute in the 81st minute.
“He’s worked really hard and we’ve given a lot of young players a taste of first-team football,” Rodgers said.
“He is a young player who has worked very hard, he was unlucky not to be loaned out, so we had to retain him to have him on the squad.
“Today he receives his reward for that [hard work]. But he still has a long way to go, but he has qualities and he came into the game and showed great confidence. “
At 21 years and 175 days old, Leshabela became the latest South African to appear in the Premier League after Bafana star Bafana Percy Tau, who was called up by Brighton & Hove Albion in January.
A hat-trick by Nigerian international Kelechi Iheanacho, a goal by Ayoze Pérez and an own goal by Ethan Ampadu sealed a comfortable 5-0 victory for the Foxes.
Leshabela, who was born in Pretoria but moved to the UK with her family at the age of two, joined the Leicester academy in 2013 and has shone in the junior ranks signing a long-term contract in 2019.
The young midfielder celebrated the proud moment with a post on his official Instagram account where he thanked the fans for all the good wishes.
“Dreams 2 Reality, proud to have made my Premier League debut, great performance from the guys, thanks for all the love” he said.
