Leicester City have again taken out loans with Australian bank Macquarie to aid cash flow at the club.
The latest filings with Companies House show three separate loans have been arranged, with one used to bring forward the payments Chelsea owe City for the transfer of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The academy product left in the summer for £30m but City didn’t receive all of the money up front.
Instead, the deal was split into three instalments of £10m. While the first instalment was paid up front, the second and third are due to be paid by Chelsea on July 14, 2025, and July 14, 2026. Rather than waiting for those payments, City have taken out a loan with Macquarie to receive them up front.
This has been a practice at City for some time. They also took out loans on instalments due for the transfers of Riyad Mahrez, Wesley Fofana, James Maddison, Harvey Barnes and Timothy Castagne.
Of the other two loans, one is secured against Premier League payments heading to the club between September 2024 and June 2028. That means the loan is also secured against potential parachute payments owed by the Premier League should City fall out of the division in that timeframe.
Again, this is not an unusual practice at City. It’s something they have done consistently over the past few years to help with cash flow at the club.
New King Power Stadium expansion date set
There’s been very little movement or information on the expansion to the King Power Stadium since total approval was granted with the Section 106 agreement coming through last December. And it seems there won’t be movement for a while.
At the club’s latest Your 90 Minutes meeting between fans and supporter liaison officer Jim Donnelly, a question was asked over the stadium expansion and the answer that came back was that work was unlikely to begin before 2026. The green light given to the club from Leicester City Council lasts five years, so work needs to start before the end of 2028.
By the time the work is complete, it will have been a long wait, with the plans to renovate and expand the King Power Stadium first revealed in October 2021. A new East Stand will take the capacity of the ground to more than 40,000.
City help with peculiar, unwanted record
With City coming from behind to earn a 1-1 draw with Everton, with Sam Morsy scoring an added-time equaliser for Ipswich at Southampton, with Wolves giving up a one-goal lead to lose to Aston Villa, and with Crystal Palace playing out a goalless stalemate with Manchester United, all six of the teams who started the weekend without a win still haven’t claimed one. In doing so, they’ve helped set a new record.
It’s the first time in the history of the English top flight that as many as six teams have gone through the first five games without a victory. For City, they’ve still got a way to go until it’s their longest wait for a win though.
Two years ago, when they were relegated from the Premier League, they failed to win any of their first seven games. In 1983-84, they didn’t win any of their first 10.
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