Harry Souttar’s adjustment to life in the Premier League has been a smooth transition after another impressive performance for Leicester City.
Making his King Power Stadium debut, Souttar cut a composed figure as the Foxes recorded a dominant come-from-behind 4-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday morning (AEDT).
The 24-year-old, who contained Harry Kane’s presence alongside Wout Faes for the 90 minutes, also assisted the third goal for Kelechi Iheanacho with an exquisite long ball.
“It was a great performance today from everyone,” he told Optus Sport after the game.
“We knew that we had to be on the front foot and pressing them high, the defensive line nice and high and I think we done that for the 90 minutes, and I think we deserved the win.”
Following his first appearance at Villa Park last weekend, Souttar got to experience his maiden home match in the East Midlands.
“Great obviously home debut, and it couldn’t have got much better in terms of result but they were singing all game and it was a great atmosphere – long may it continue,” he said.
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers reserved high praise for his recent signing after making an immediate impact and adapting seamlessly to his new environment following his A$26 million transfer in January.
He revealed he had been closely monitoring the towering centre-back for some time, including at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, where he played every minute of the Subway Socceroos’ four matches, and even spoke to Australia Head Coach Graham Arnold.
“I thought he was class today,” Rodgers claimed, speaking to Optus Sport after the clash.
“He’s a young player we followed, and I spoke to a number of people on him.
“Obviously Graham Arnold spoke very highly of him and Rene Meulensteen, so these are guys that I respect in the game.
“Obviously he was fantastic for Australia in the World Cup which I saw, I just think he’s coming in he’s hungry, he’s 24 years of age.
“He wants to prove himself at the highest level, he did it at the World Cup, but he’s come into here and he just gives us a presence.
“He defends the box well, he reads the game, he’s a leader.
“But you see today he can play football as well, he’s calm in possession, he passes the ball well from behind – makes a great pass for our third goal.
“I’ve been absolutely delighted with him, he’s settled in really, really well.”
Leicester, who have collected successive league victories, travel to Old Trafford for a meeting with Manchester United next Monday morning (AEDT).
The former Stoke City defender admitted he is relishing the challenge and why he wanted to ply his trade in the English top-flight.
“That’s why I wanted to come and play here to test myself against the best,” he continued.
“We’re three wins (in a row) one in the FA Cup and two in the league, so we’ll go there full of confidence and see what happens.”