Victor Kristiansen joined Leicester City for a reported fee of £17 million last January; 13 months on and the Dane could well be on the move again.

After just 14 appearances in a blue shirt after moving from Copenhagen last year, the 21-year-old was shipped out on loan to Italian side Bologna during the summer, after realising he wasn’t a key feature in new boss Enzo Maresca’s plans.

With the incoming boss favouring a back three and utilising wingbacks, it left the fullback weighing up his future just a matter of months after making the move to England.

And ever since he joined up with boss Thiago Motta in Serie A the young talent has gone from strength to strength; helping the Rossoblù battle for a Champions League spot in Italy after a strong showing so far this season.

Victor Kristiansen’s contract situation

There was much fanfare when Kristiansen joined the Foxes in January 2023, with Brendan Rodgers luring the hotly-tipped youngster to the King Power Stadium as the Foxes fought to stay in the Premier League.

The reported £17 million deal saw the Dane sign a five-and-a-half-year deal to stay with the club until the summer of 2028, but it already looks like in England will be a lot shorter than planned.

Having broken through into the Copenhagen first team in the 2020/21 campaign, Kristiansen went on to make 70 appearances for the current Danish Superliga champions, with experience playing in the Champions League and Europa Conference League.

Having found the net for the first time in his final appearance for the club – a 2-0 away victory over Aarhus – he then made his Foxes debut in a 1-0 FA Cup victory over Walsall in January 2023.

Two more victories in his first two starts against Aston Villa and Tottenham showed early signs that City’s fortunes were turning around, but a tough end to the campaign saw them return to the Championship after nine season in the Premier League.

Enzo Maresca’s arrival leaves Kristiansen out in the cold

With Rodgers out the door and Maresca coming into replace him, the early signs didn’t look promising for the young Dane, with his new boss utilising a system that doesn’t make the most of his abilities on the flanks, with James Justin cementing his place on the left side of defence.

With the left-back used more as a left centre back in his unique setup, Maresca already knew in the summer that Kristiansen and a number of other team mates weren’t going to feature heavily in his plans.

“I don’t think Victor and Luke [Thomas] can play inside like Ricardo [Pereira] is doing now. Probably we can try to use them in a different way, Victor in the way we are using Callum [Doyle],” Leicester Live reported in the summer.

“We are trying to do it but at the same time we understand that the best qualities for them is to play as a full-back. It’s the way they have played all of their lives. We are trying to teach them some concepts.”

The writing was already on the wall for Kristiansen then, and he quickly got the ball rolling for a move away from the club, as Bologna Sport News reported on his arrival to Italy:

“Leicester changed manager, they wanted me to play as a central defender, but I preferred to continue playing in my role.