You would have been forgiven for writing off Robert Huth after the German centre back played just 13 Premier League matches in 18 months for Stoke City due to a knee injury. Now though, Huth is playing a key role in Leicester City’s incredible run, and he could be set to win his third Premier League winners’ medal.
Huth made the move from Stoke to the King Power Stadium in January 2015 after falling down the pecking order at the Britannia. Since then he has been one of the first names on the team sheet under both Nigel Pearson and Claudio Ranieri, and he has been as an important player to the Foxes as Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy.
England has become a second home for the German Huth ever since his move to Chelsea in 2001. Despite playing just 39 Premier League games in three seasons at Stamford Bridge, his time there can’t be considered a failure. He won the club’s Young Player of the Year award three years in a row from 2003, and had it not been for the establishment of an impressive centre back partnership of John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho, he may still be there now.
Having spent time at Middlesbrough and Stoke since leaving Chelsea in 2006, many thought that the 31-year-old’s best days were well behind him, especially with knee injuries threatening to end his career. With the days of a physical Potters team under Tony Pulis over, it seemed that Huth would struggle to find a club to suit his style of play.
At Leicester however he has been a key player, forming a formidable partnership at centre back with captain Wes Morgan. Whereas much of the focus has been on Leicester’s attacking players, four of their last games have finished 1-0 to the Foxes, showing how crucial the defensive steel shown by that pair has been.
Huth has also popped up at the other end with massive goals for the Premier League leaders. He scored the winner at White Hart Lane to net the winner against Tottenham, and then scored twice away at Manchester City to win a huge three points, which for the first time made Leicester favourites for the Premier League title.
His brilliant form has seen Germany manager Joachim Low open the door for Huth to make an international return in time for Euro 2016, six years after his last call-up. His thoughts however are most likely to be on the Premier League title race, with his experience going to be crucial, especially given that he is the only man in the Foxes squad to have won the league before.
When he moved to Leicester City just over 12 months ago, no one would have thought that Huth would have been fighting for the league title now. He has barely put a food wrong though in his time at the King Power Stadium, and now he looks set to bring home the Premier League trophy.
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