Christian Fuchs offered Leicester escape route by Midlands rivals Aston Villa
The left-back joined the Foxes for free in 2015 and helped them win the Premier League but has been frozen out by Ben Chilwell this season
CHRISTIAN FUCHS is a loan target for Aston Villa, according to reports.
The Leicester defender, 32, would provide much-needed reinforcement for Dean Smith, whose only recognised left-back Neil Taylor has been struggling with injury lately.
Fuchs has been frozen out of Claude Puel's side this season and his days at the King Power appear numbered due to the excellence of Ben Chilwell.
The academy graduate has made the left-back position his own for both Leicester and England.
It means the Austrian has been limited to one Premier League appearance - the 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace last month - and the four Carabao Cup ties this season.
And with his contract expiring in the summer, he will no doubt be keen to put himself in the shop window to earn another contract.
Christian Fuchs: The Prem's most interesting man juggles fashion, football and eSports
EXCLUSIVE By TOM SHEEN
CHRISTIAN FUCHS never intended for the latter stages of his career to turn out this way.
The Leicester City defender may just be the busiest player in the Premier League right now - off the pitch at least.
His level of entrepreneurship is meant to wait until after retirement, when players have free time to fully pursue other interests.
Ex-pros usually front the money then let other people take care of the nitty-gritty, but Fuchs, 32, never got that memo.
The strings to his bow include a fashion brand – No Fuchs Given – a professional eSports team and football academies that serve more than 700 kids in Leicester, New York and Austria.
He organised the UK Freestyle Championships, which took place last weekend, and plans to move to the US at the end of the season.
Fuchs is expected to move to America to join his wife and children at the end of the season and finish his career in the MLS.
But he would certainly provide some added experience as Smith's side seek a return to the Premier League.
The Villa boss has been forced to switch Alan Hutton across to the left of defence but the club won just one of the five matches he played there over the Christmas period.
That is not the kind of form that will see Premier League football at Villa Park again next season. Aston Villa are currently tenth in the Championship and five points off the play-off places.
But they do have a favourable run of fixtures which sees them face relegation-threatened Wigan, Ipswich and Reading in their next four games.
If Chilwell was to get injured or suspended, though, Leicester do not have an obvious replacement to slot in, especially after Callum Elder joined Ipswich on loan earlier in the week.
The Foxes travel to Wales today to take on Newport County in the FA Cup third round.
After the busy hectic schedule, Puel may give Fuchs another run-out and rest Chilwell as City look to avoid an embarrassing upset.