Like with every club up and down the land, and at every level, there are decisions regarding personnel within the squad to be made when Leicester City boss Enzo Maresca reflects on this season. There is work to be done still, of course, to secure that immediate return to the Premier League which has appeared a sure thing for most – if not all – of the season.
Still, there are calls which will need to be made in the near future. One particular advantage of Leicester being so dominant this term is that their on-field ambitions can hopefully be achieved at the earliest opportunity and attentions can then turn to off-field matters. That is certainly something Maresca, as he said recently, is aiming for.
The decisions concern those on loan, and whether or not City pursue permanent deals, while there are also half a dozen very experienced and high profile names who are currently in the final months of their respective agreements with the club. For a number of others, they’ve reached that 18-months-left stage where those situations could do with being addressed, too.
Here is how the Foxes’ squad looks based on their respective contract statuses.
2024 – loanees
Callum Doyle (Manchester City), Abdul Fatawu (Sporting Lisbon), Yunus Akgun (Galatasaray, obligation to buy if conditions are met)
The former pair especially have been huge additions to this so-far successful campaign. Fatawu in particular, you’d think, has a strong possibility of returning on a permanent basis, but Maresca has said recently they’ll discuss that down the line. Galatasaray, meanwhile, claimed when announcing Akgun had joined that Leicester would be obliged to sign him permanently if certain conditions were met.
2024
Wilfred Ndidi, Jamie Vardy, Kelechi Iheanacho, Dennis Praet, Jannik Vestergaard, Marc Albrighton
Premier League winners, Champions League performers and FA Cup lifters amongst them – this is a significant summer for the club as regards to forming how the squad will look next term. Ndidi and Vestergaard especially have been extremely important members of this title-chasing side this term. Not much more needs to be said about Vardy’s input during his more than ten years at the club. Praet is reportedly wanted abroad.
