Leicester City’s team has been shaken up this summer, with 12 senior players leaving for good and nine joining on permanent and loan terms.
Eight of the dozen players who left on free transfers after their City contracts expired at the end of June, forcing the team to rebuild. And it’s possible that they’ll need another roster overhaul in a year’s time, with 12 players set to leave the club next summer.
Jamie Vardy is currently in his final year at the King Power Stadium. Enzo Maresca likes him since he plays in every game and has an impact in the majority of them He has made it clear that this is his final season with the club. However, he is no longer the first-choice striker, and he turns 37 in January, so an emotional farewell next summer is possible.
It might be a double goodbye for the club’s two surviving title winners, as Marc Albrighton is also out of contract. Maresca has also lauded him, but the introduction of new wingers in the transfer window, as well as the promotion of players from the development team, have pushed Albrighton down the pecking order. He didn’t even make the bench in the loss to Hull.
Four players’ futures were in doubt during the transfer window since their contracts expire in 2024, and it’s likely that all four will leave unless the club is promoted. Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho are the most likely to stay if City regains their Premier League status, but promotion may not be enough to keep them Jannik Vestergaard and Dennis Praet were neither present at the club.
An option in Hamza Choudhury’s contract was used this summer to add a year to his contract and keep him at the King Power Stadium, but City will have to give him new terms if they wish to extend it again next year.
And goalie Alex Smithies, who has slipped even further down the pecking order under Maresca, may leave without ever making a senior appearance for the club. His two-year contract will expire in 2024.
Then there’s the four loan players signed this summer. Callum Doyle and Cesare Casadei are expected to return to their parent clubs, Manchester City and Chelsea, respectively, where they both have promising futures.
Yunus Akgun and Abdul Fatawu are more likely to stay for more than a year because there are clauses in their loan contracts that could be met, implying that their deals will become permanent. As things currently stand, they will return to Galatasaray and Sporting Lisbon next summer.
There are a number of players in the squad whose contract circumstances are uncertain, and they, too, might be on their way out next summer unless new contracts are agreed. Kasey McAteer, Wanya Marcal, and Ben Nelson all agreed to terms with the club between the summer of 2021 and the beginning of 2022, but no expiration dates were given.
Luke Thomas is in the same boat. He signed a new contract with the King Power after his breakthrough in 2020, with no set end date. The agreement is expected to last into 2024.
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