leicester city

Leicester transfer report won’t have an effect on their promotion bid.

Published

1 year ago

January 21, 2024

Leicester could be in for a tricky January but they should have enough firepower to get themselves over the line.

But Enzo Maresca could well be a man best pleased that they’ve managed to create a buffer between themselves and the play-offs at this stage in the season, with the Foxes still 10 points ahead of third-placed Southampton heading into this weekend – despite a loss against local side Coventry City.

The one-time Premier League winners were stunningly relegated last season after a shambolic season that saw Brendan Rodgers sacked in late April, but most importantly, the losses of key players such as James Maddison, Harvey Barnes and Youri Tielemans meant that many wondered just how they would fare in the Championship. That rebuild has gone swimmingly with a host of top signings such as Harry Winks and Stephy Mavididi to help their cause, and it is a good job that the building blocks have been put in place for a final push to the title – with a report suggesting there is no money to spend in the January window.

Leicester City transfer latest

According to The Athletic, Leicester will have to sell before they buy in the January transfer window if they are to comply with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules upon what is an expected return to the top-flight.

The publication states that the cost of relegation and financial fair play are the main reason as to why Enzo Maresca has been told that he’ll have to move on stars either on big wages, or players that he rarely uses in the remaining weeks of the winter window if he is to spend; though he will have one eye on the summer with the lead Leicester have already being vast over their promotion rivals.

With Everton and Nottingham Forest’s financial fair play woes being increasingly well documented over the past days, it’s a stark warning to Leicester as how not to operate should they come up and subsequently stay in the top-flight, which is why they are wary of spending so heavily in the winter without selling anybody first.

Leicester City – most expensive summer signings in 2023, per misc	Price (£m)
Harry Winks	10
Conor Coady	7.5
Tom Cannon	7.5
Stephy Mavididi	6.9
Mads Hermansen	6

With eight players out of contract, including Jamie Vardy, Marc Albrighton, Wilfried Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho – who will all be contracted on extremely large wages at this level – it makes sense for them to be sold before bringing in new targets.

Why Leicester are lucky ahead of a barren January window

Sitting so far ahead of Southampton and the play-offs, Leicester are in the luxurious position of having breathing space and time to meticulously plan their window. If that wasn’t the case, and they were battling for the play-offs, risks may have been taken to get ahead of the pack, with less margin for error and late moves may have been made in a gamble to win automatic promotion.

But similar to how Burnley operated last winter with the signings of Lyle Foster, Hjalmar Ekdal and more, Leicester could bring in a host of players in preparation for the top-flight – only if they sell the right amount of players to fund such transfer spending.

Ultimately, though, they can sit tight and do nothing this winter and know they’ve got the firepower to blow the division away and achieve the ultimate goal of promotion, before going again in the summer window.