Leicester City defender reveals contract details amid hopes of a return to the Premier League.
The academy graduate has spoken about his departure from the club and how he felt when City won the Premier League in 2016.
Former Leicester City defender Liam Moore has said that he always intended to return to the club after leaving in 2016, and that he even signed a new contract before leaving permanently.
The now 30-year-old left the King Power Stadium in the summer of 2016, making a permanent move to Reading of the then-Conference. The defender went on to become the Royals’ captain, but he left the club this summer at the conclusion of his contract and is now a free agent.
Moore spent the first half of the 2015/16 season on loan with Bristol City, a decision he has expressed remorse about. He returned in January and was present at the club as they concluded their charge for the Premier League title; the defender has explained what it felt like to be present but not involved, despite making no Premier League appearances that season.
“The article you might have read is when I said I remember standing on the pitch in tears when they lifted the trophy, and there’s a lot of reasons behind that,” he explained to the BallersMindset Podcast. “One, it was amazing to see, I’m a Leicester fan, two, I was gutted I wasn’t involved and I feel like there was an opportunity there, and three, I knew it was the end of my time there, they were going into the Champions League, and I’d just had a failed loan at Bristol, I needed to go and establish myself.”
“I remember being gutted a few days later because there was so much to do, the parade.” I was invited to everything, and I made sure I went since it was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“You don’t want to be that sulker, you don’t want to sit back and say, ‘I wasn’t involved, so I’m not doing it,’ but there were a lot of bittersweet moments.” We traveled to Thailand to celebrate, and I kept thinking, “I didn’t do anything here.” I trained with the boys but did nothing.
“At the same time, people were invited for a reason, and I’d obviously been around it for a long time, which was the reason; I worked hard in training, but the opportunity never came.” So it was definitely pleasant; I can now look back on the recollections and photographs.”
Moore moved to Reading a few months later, but he has disclosed that he was offered, and initially signed, a new deal to stay at City. The defender explained his strategy for leaving the club.
“I signed a contract that didn’t actually go through in the end,” he added. “They wanted me to stay and go out on loan to mature and learn the game, but I wanted some say over where I went.”
“I just didn’t feel entirely confident that I had a clear path back to where I needed to be at Leicester, so we eventually took the contract off the table, and it was a case of I’m a Leicester boy, I love the club, I felt like the fans appreciated me, I was at home, the contract was good, but something was missing, I needed to be a man basically.”
“I felt like in the environment I was in, I was always going to stay the nearly boy or nearly kid, so my intention was to always go, play, and try to get back, that was always my mentality, I always wanted to try and get back.”
Moore has returned to the club this summer. During pre-season, he spent time at Seagrave, where he trained with the club’s U21 team to stay in shape.
When asked if he would return to City, he replied, “Of course I would.” I believe any player who has played there in the last five to seven years, particularly under this ownership, will return. Obviously, you have your Mahrezs at the top.
“But any lad who’s left and is playing at that level would always go back to that club.”
