Leicester City Sign Goalkeeper Dai Cornell on One-Year Deal

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. He now drops into League One with the Foxes, who are pushing for an immediate return to the Championship but were left exposed when Jakub Stolarczyk suffered a season-ending knee injury in early September.

This is not a vanity signing. It is a piece of insurance, experience and personality rolled into one.

Martin backs Cornell’s impact beyond the gloves

Leicester boss Russell Martin made it clear Cornell’s influence will not be limited to what happens between the posts.

“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, underlining both Cornell’s realism and ambition.

Then came the real endorsement.

“But first and foremost, he is a brilliant character and really adds to the character, voice and experience in this squad.”

In a dressing room already reshaped by relegation and summer turnover, that matters. Cornell is expected to provide depth behind first-choice Alex McCarthy, but also to stiffen the training-ground standards and add another strong voice to the group.

A well-travelled career finds club number 11

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

He has had spells with St Mirren in Scotland and a string of English clubs including Portsmouth, Oldham, Northampton and Peterborough, as well as Ipswich Town and Preston. The moves tell a story: a goalkeeper trusted by managers, willing to play different roles, and accustomed to adapting quickly.

Cornell himself has kept his message simple. He says he is keen to “help in any way” he can at the Foxes – a line that fits neatly with the job description Leicester have in mind for him.

Goalkeeping pecking order reshaped

Former Southampton keeper Alex McCarthy, a once-capped England international, has been Leicester’s mainstay in goal so far this season. Behind him, Argentine Franco Ravizzoli, signed from Blackpool in the summer, has been occupying the bench since Stolarczyk’s injury.

Cornell’s arrival changes that landscape. It gives Martin three senior options, restores competition, and reduces the risk of the promotion push being derailed by another injury in a specialist position.

Leicester’s recruitment this time is not about headlines. It is about security, experience and a goalkeeper who knows exactly what he is walking into – and why he has been brought through the door.