How Wout Faes’ arrival will help improve Monaco’s defensive weaknesses

With Monaco flooding goals in Ligue 1 this season, the loan signing of Wout Faes from Leicester could help plug the hole in their leaky defence.

Will Wout Faes be Monaco’s answer to their defensive frailties?

Only two sides have conceded more goals across the 2025/26 Ligue 1 campaign than Monaco’s 30, leaving Pocognoli’s side down in ninth position in the top flight of French football.

Those two teams are Metz and newly-promoted Paris FC. What is particularly concerning about the Red and Whites’ leaky defence is that Metz are languishing at the bottom of the table, and Paris FC are only two points above the relegation play-off position.

After conceding only 42 goals throughout the whole of last season, there is every chance that 2023/24’s total will be exceeded.

Having finished last season in third position in Ligue 1, securing automatic qualification for the Champions League, this season hasn’t gone to plan so far.

Monaco are currently in ninth place in the top flight of French football after conceding more goals (-3) than they have scored across 2025/26. So will the recent addition of Faes prove to be the plug that will stop the goals from flying past goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky?

Faes’ experience is Leicester’s loss, and Monaco’s potential gain

Faes was an integral part of the Leicester side that lifted the 2023/24 Championship trophy, which translated into promotion back to the Premier League.

However, the following campaign was a significant downgrade after the Foxes suffered an immediate return to the second division of English football.

A third spell in the second tier of English football in three seasons has potentially affected the Belgians’ confidence, with his parent club down in 14th position. This has arguably been down to the fact that they have conceded one more goal (38) than they have actually scored this season.

Only time will tell if Monaco will be more defensively astute under the stewardship of the Belgian international, who has played a part in 15 of the Foxes’ 26 games this season.

However with Faes playing over 300 matches across the backline, predominantly as a centre-back, on paper, his experience could easily help Monaco produce a carbon copy of last season and qualify for the Champions League again.

Competition could improve Thilo Kehrer and Mohammed Salisu

With Kehrer and Salisu currently Monaco’s first-choice centre-back pairing, contributing to a steady leak of goals, out-of-favour Eric Dier could easily move on following Faes’ arrival.

If the former Tottenham defender does depart, Pocognoli will not want to see Denis Zakaria leave, with defending Süper Lig champions Galatasaray reportedly credited with an interest in the defensive midfielder.

The potential loss of Monaco’s club captain and his current defence’s last line of defence could turn out to be catastrophic in terms of the Ligue 1 outfit’s hopes of finishing in the top four.

Pre-January transfer window talk ahead of the summer

Monaco appeared to have pulled off a very astute piece of business with Faes’ contract expiring at the end of June, with Leicester appearing reluctant to offer a new deal.

This appears to be down due to his reported weekly wage of £50,000, which the Foxes potentially consider unrealistic considering their current position in the Championship. An initial loan move, therefore, seems to have suited both parties for the time being.

With it looking unlikely that Monaco will win their first Ligue 1 trophy since the 2016/17 campaign, with them trailing current leaders Lens by a mammoth 17 points. It seems Faes’ wait to lift his first top-flight title since winning the Jupiler Pro League with Anderlecht in 2016/17 will have to wait for at least another year.