Russell Martin didn't mince it. Ask him about Manchester United coming for Louis Page and his answer is simple: go away. The Leicester City manager said as much publicly, and the fact he's saying it through a grin doesn't make it any less firm.
Page is 18, won EFL Apprentice of the Year last season, and has already made 21 senior appearances for the Foxes — five starts among them. He featured in their Carabao Cup win over Northampton at the weekend. For a League One club rebuilding after relegation, that kind of ready-made talent isn't just useful. It's rare.
Martin knows Wilcox — that's the whole point
The awkward wrinkle here is that United's Director of Football Jason Wilcox is someone Martin worked with at Southampton. This isn't a cold call situation. These men know each other. And Martin is still saying no.
"Louis is a really fantastic young player. Obviously, I know the director of football at Manchester United very well after spending some time with Southampton," Martin told Sky Sports. "So we haven't actually spoken with Louis because he probably knows what I'd say to him and tell him to go away. But no, until something comes in that is really brilliant for the club, the player, and everyone is happy, then Louis stays."
That's a carefully worded answer. "Really brilliant for the club" leaves a door ajar — the right fee could change the conversation. Page signed professional terms in September last year, which means United can't simply trigger a compensation formula. They'd need to negotiate a proper transfer fee.
Leicester can't afford another exit
This summer already cost the Foxes Jeremy Monga, the 17-year-old forward who left for Manchester City. Losing two academy-developed teenagers in the same window — while dropping into League One — would be a damaging signal about the club's ability to hold onto its best young players.
Arsenal and Aston Villa are also watching Page. That level of Premier League attention for an 18-year-old in the third tier says everything about his ceiling. Any of those clubs getting him on the cheap would look very shrewd in hindsight — which is exactly why Leicester can't let that happen.
Martin is enjoying working with him. Page is in the squad. And for now, that's where he stays.
