Back in May 2016, Leicester City made the impossible, possible. A Premier League title was a victory for the underdog. For the common man. For those who prefer their football as real as it used to be before billionaires somehow ruined the beautiful game.

It was also a very personal, and improbable, victory for Foxes’ left-back Christian Fuchs. “I’m not playing for my coach, I’m not playing for my team mates, I’m playing for my own success,” he told Yahoo Sport.

“I never believed it until it happened. When we watched the Chelsea v Tottenham game all together at Jamie Vardy’s house, it was a crazy up-and-down experience.

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“Tottenham went up 2-0, then Chelsea equalised with a beautiful Hazard goal, for which I’ll be thankful for the rest of my life.”

Perhaps to be expected, the following season never came close to hitting the heights of the previous one, and Fuchs believes that there were certain factors in play as to why that was. And he absolutely refutes any suggestion that the squad weren’t playing for Claudio Ranieri, an accusation made at the time.

“I wouldn’t say the players let him down. We had to cope with a couple of factors, but we had a great streak in the Champions League with Ranieri and went through the group stage without a problem.

“It was a very different season, and we all knew that we might not be able to repeat what we’d created before.”

View photos Claudio Ranieri (left), Christian Fuchs (centre), goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel and Riyad Mahrez (right) with the Premier League trophy More

Business sense

It’s clear that Fuchs isn’t your average footballer, with his own clothing line and YouTube channel, NoFuchsGiven. His business sense comes from graduating with an economics degree, something he earned whilst already playing professional football.

At 17, he had his first contract, but far from his parents being worried at how it might affect his studies, they were fully supportive of their son’s aspirations.

“When I was younger, there were a lot of people seeing my potential and saying; ‘he will be a footballer,’ but my dad was more like ‘you know what, one step at a time. Get your school work done and then we can talk about it’.

“I’m thankful that he was persistent in telling me to finish school, because I think that was very important and helped me a lot.

“In the same way, my parents were very supportive in going to every home game and away game. Wherever we played they were always with me.”

Street football

In New York, whilst there’s a break from Premier League duty, Fuchs is spending some long-overdue time with his family and also making plans for Street Soccer in Manhattan, as well as running his Fox Soccer Academy.

There’s much to occupy his mind before he makes the permanent move to the big Apple in June 2019.

“The Street Soccer project is basically a start-up. It happened pretty fast. We went to a breakfast with Street Soccer USA in Manhattan. It was interesting to see how much engagement and how much enthusiasm they have to try and bring the game of football to American kids, to New York kids that can’t afford to play at an academy.

“We were so convinced and loved the project that we got in touch with people right away, so we could host a clinic with them. Giving back to the kids, who are not able to afford a fancy camp, makes me personally very happy.”

View photos Fuchs wants to spend more time with his family and pursue other business interests More

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