Wout Felix Lina Faes (born 3 April 1998) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as centre-back for Premier League club Leicester City and the Belgium national team.
A promising talent from the Anderlecht academy, Faes was sent on loan with Heerenveen and Excelsior in the Eredivisie, but never experienced his breakthrough with Anderlecht. As a result, he moved to Oostende, where he was able to grow into a solid starter. In January 2020, Faes was signed by Ligue 1 club Reims and was sent back on loan to Oostende for the rest of the season. He subsequently joined Leicester City in 2022.
Faes represented Belgium in youth levels, where he gained attention as the captain of Belgian national youth teams. He made his senior debut for Belgium in 2022 and was part of Belgium's squad in 2022 FIFA World Cup.
After officially joining Reims from the start of the 2020–21 season, Faes made his Ligue 1 debut on 23 August 2020 in a 2–2 away draw against Monaco, in which he played the full match. On 1 November, he scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 home win over Strasbourg; a powerful header from a corner-kick taken by Valon Berisha. He finished his first season with Reims with 35 appearances in which he scored two goals, as the club finished 14th in the league. Faes also featured in the Europa League qualifiers with Reims, who were eventually knocked out by Fehervar in the third round.
On 1 September 2022, Faes joined Premier League club Leicester City on a five-year deal for a reported fee of £15 million. He made his debut for the club in a 6–2 loss against Tottenham on 17 September. Faes was praised for his impact on the club's defence since his debut and in the seven Premier League games since the match against Tottenham, City recorded five clean sheets. On 30 December 2022, in a 2–1 loss vs Liverpool, Faes became the fourth player in Premier League history to score two own goals in the same match.
Faes scored his first goal for Leicester on 28 May 2023, against West Ham United. This goal was the second in a 2–1 win, but Leicester would be relegated to the Championship anyway due to Everton's 1–0 win over AFC Bournemouth.
Faes' first taste of international tournament football was with Belgium U17s at the 2015 U-17 World Cup in Chile.
He was called up to the senior Belgium squad for 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification matches, on 13 and 16 November against Estonia and Wales respectively, and was an unused substitute in the Wales match. Together with Leicester City teammates, Timothy Castagne and Youri Tielemans, he was subsequently called up to Belgium's 2022 FIFA World Cup finals squad in November 2022. |
