Leicester City Sign Veteran Goalkeeper Dai Cornell

Leicester City have moved to plug their goalkeeping gap by signing veteran 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 with the Foxes following Jakub Stolarczyk’s season-ending knee injury in early September.

Experience over panic

With promotion back to the Championship the clear target, Leicester have opted for know-how rather than a gamble. Cornell has seen most things the game can throw at a goalkeeper. This is the 11th club of a career that began at Swansea City and wound its way through spells at St Mirren, Portsmouth, Oldham, Northampton, Peterborough, Ipswich Town and Preston.

Russell Martin made it clear this is not just a body through the door.

"He understands the role he is going to fulfil here, but he also backs himself to show what a good goalkeeper he is," the Leicester boss 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."

That last point matters. Leicester’s dressing room has been reshaped after relegation and the pressure of being promotion favourites can quickly turn. Martin wants voices he can trust when the tempo rises and nerves start to fray.

A different kind of signing

Cornell is under no illusions. He comes in behind former Southampton goalkeeper Alex McCarthy, the once-capped England international who has been Leicester’s mainstay between the posts so far this season.

Franco Ravizzoli, signed from Blackpool in the summer, has been on the bench since Stolarczyk was ruled out, and Cornell’s arrival deepens that department rather than tears it up. It gives Martin three senior options, and crucially, one more seasoned head in training every day.

Cornell, for his part, has kept his message simple, saying he is keen to "help in any way" he can at the Foxes. That could mean pushing McCarthy, guiding Ravizzoli, or being ready when the schedule bites and the games stack up.

Leicester have made their move. Now it is down to Cornell to show that, even at club number 11, there is still a meaningful chapter left to write.