Leicester City Sign Goalkeeper Dai Cornell on One-Year Deal

Leicester City have moved to plug their goalkeeping gap with the signing of experienced stopper Dai Cornell on a one-year deal.

The 35-year-old Welshman arrives as a free agent after turning down a new contract at Preston North End in the summer, and drops into League One to join a Leicester side intent on making a swift return to the Championship.

Cover for cruel Stolarczyk blow

Leicester’s hand was forced when Jakub Stolarczyk suffered a season-ending knee injury in early September, leaving Russell Martin light in a key position. Cornell’s arrival restores depth behind first-choice Alex McCarthy and summer signing Franco Ravizzoli.

Martin made it clear this is not just a short-term emergency fix. He sees Cornell as a personality as much as a pair of hands.

“He understands the role he is going to fulfil here, but he also backs himself to show what a good goalkeeper he is,” Martin told BBC Radio Leicester. “But first and foremost, he is a brilliant character and really adds to the character, voice and experience in this squad.”

Cornell, who has built a reputation as a reliable professional and strong dressing-room presence, echoed that sentiment, saying he is keen to “help in any way” he can at the Foxes.

A career built on graft and miles

Leicester become the 11th club of Cornell’s senior career, one that began at Swansea City and has taken him across the English and Scottish game.

His journey includes spells with St Mirren in Scotland and a string of EFL clubs such as Portsmouth, Oldham, Northampton and Peterborough, as well as his most recent stint at Preston in the Championship.

At Leicester, he steps into a goalkeeping unit anchored this season by former Southampton keeper and one-cap England international Alex McCarthy, who has been Martin’s mainstay between the posts. Ravizzoli, signed from Blackpool in the summer, has been on the bench since Stolarczyk’s injury.

Now Cornell joins that group, tasked with shoring up a promotion push and lending his voice and experience to a dressing room under pressure to climb straight back up.