Demarai Gray says Leicester should play him more – and admits he’s unhappy as long-term suitors Bournemouth keep tabs
Winger feels he should be starting more matches for the Foxes after seeing Cherries bid rejected by Craig Shakespeare
DEMARAI GRAY admits he is unhappy at Leicester.
The England Under-21 star has been left frustrated by his lack of first-team football with the Foxes.
All three of his Premier League appearances for Craig Shakespeare’s side this season have come as a second-half substitute.
And Gray, who saw his club block all moves for him in the summer, said: “I am not happy with the amount of football I am playing at the moment.
“I respect the manager and he picks his team. But I want to play as much as possible in the Premier League and at the moment that is not the case.
“I just have to get my head down and get on with it and come off the bench or whatever, play well in a cup game and give the manager a headache.
“But I get so frustrated when I don’t play and the manager knows I just want to play football.
“I am not just going to sit there and say nothing. If I was happy at not playing I think that would be more of an issue.
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“People misunderstand this sometimes and think my morale might not be as good as it should be. But I just want to play football and when I’m not playing it’s frustrating because I know what I can bring to the team.”
Bournemouth had a £25million offer for the 21-year-old rejected during the window.
Gray, 21, arrived at the King Power from home-town club Birmingham in January 2016 after the top-flight side activated his £3.75m clause.
The winger, who netted in the 4-1 Carabao Cup victory against Sheffield United last month, added: “There was interest on deadline day and a lot going on.
“Obviously I was away with the U21s so that took my mind off it a little bit. But a lot was going on.
“Did I think I was going to leave Leicester? There were a few bids flying around.
“Leicester sat me down and told me how they are going to use me and the impact they see me having on the team.
“But deadline day is manic and you never know what is going to happen.”
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Ironically, Gray scored on Tuesday at Bournemouth as he helped England’s U21s to a 3-0 victory over Latvia in their Euro 2019 qualifier.
When asked why he did not celebrate with a smile, he said: “You saw how I am frustrated at the amount of football I am getting.
“All I can do is talk with my feet. When I get the opportunity to play, as I did with the U21s, I just have to show what I can do.
“I was happy to play for the U21s, I was happy to score and I was happy to contribute to the result.
“But the reason I didn’t look so happy is because I am so frustrated.
“I want to play every week and I am not at the minute.”