Asmita Ale set to join Leicester City after Spurs Exit

It has been reported that England youth international Asmita Ale is poised to join Leicester City.

Ale spent the second half of the 2023/24 season on loan at Leicester from Tottenham.

The trailblazer was the only British Asian footballer – male or female – to play top-division football in England last season.

Ale played in Leicester’s Women’s FA Cup victory against Birmingham City before featuring in the quarter-final win against Liverpool to help the Foxes reach the last four of the competition for the first time in their history.

The full-back spent over a decade at Aston Villa, signing a pro deal with the club at 18 and becoming the first Nepali-heritage player ever to sign a professional contract in English football.

The 22-year-old made 18 appearances in Villa’s first WSL campaign.

In that season, Ale helped the team keep three clean sheets in their last five games of the season before joining Tottenham in the summer of 2021.

Ale is an England youth international who has played across different age groups.

Most recently, she played at the inaugural U-23 European League.

Asmita Ale was named in the 2023/24 British South Asians in Football Team of the Season, earning her place in the side for the second consecutive season.

Meanwhile, on July 13, 2024, the South Asians in Football Team of the Season went on show in Gravesend as Punjab United hosted Sporting Khalsa at the Steve Cook Stadium.

It was the second annual celebratory fixture between the two sides ahead of South Asian Heritage Month, which runs from July 18 to August 17.

Both teams play in the eighth tier of English football.

Millie Chandarana – who was the only British Asian with a professional contract in the Women’s Championship last season – said she was proud her story was being showcased and to play her part in raising positive awareness.

She said: “It’s great that the Team of the Season can be showcased at such an amazing game that is now happening for the second year in a row.

“I think it’s also down to the great talent that is on the pitch now across the UK – that being showcased is amazing in itself because everybody should know about the great South Asian talent in the UK.

“Hopefully in years to come, there will be so many more people coming into that team.

“It’s just really nice knowing that it is going to be showcased at an event and a game like that.”