After their unexpected success of winning the Premier League in 2016 in one of the greatest feats in the history of European football, Leicester City, just seven years later, are relegated to the Championship in a season to forget.
To explain the gravity of this descent, it is worth remembering that the ‘Foxes’ established themselves at the top of the table, especially after the arrival of Brendan Rodgers in 2019, who was two seasons in a row on the verge of qualifying the team to the Champions League with two fifth places in the Premier League.
In this context, great players appeared at the club that gave them a leap in quality, such as James Maddison, Harvey Barnes, Harry Maguire, Wilfred Ndidi, Ben Chilwell or the arrival of Youri Tielemans, recently signed from Aston Villa.
With these players, who were also quite young, the team was playing great soccer, and Jaime Vardy still had magnificent numbers in front of goal. Later, promising players like Soumaré and Patson Daka arrived, who looked very good but did not work out.
After Rodgers’ first two seasons, Leicester City finished 8th in the league last season, a totally acceptable position for the Foxes, who still had a squad to look forward to, with players such as Dewsbury-Hall and Söyüncü also standing out, but the truth is that it seemed that perhaps a change of direction was needed in the dugout.
Last summer, the sensations were not so good, as Maguire and Chillwel had already left the previous year and there were no guaranteed additions in defense. In addition, after the departure of Kasper Schmeichel, there was also no guaranteed replacement in goal and the team’s defensive performance this season has been too poor, being the 4th team that has conceded the most goals with 68.
On the other hand, the offensive level of the squad is noticeable in that, out of the bottom 10 in the Premier League, the ‘Foxes’ are the team that has scored the most goals. Despite Vardy’s goalscoring downturn, Harvey Barnes has scored 12 league goals, a figure that suggests he will stay in the top flight after relegation.
Not only Barnes is expected to leave, but also James Maddison, a player in whom teams such as Newcastle and Tottenham have already shown interest. Other international players joining the list are Castagne, Faes, Tielemans, Ndidi, Amartey and Vestergaard, among others.
A relegation of a squad full of internationals of which many will leave the club and a very deep reconstruction will be necessary. The club will sell many players below their value, which suggests that their return to the Premier League will not be that easy and that difficult times lie ahead at the King Power Stadium.
Translated by Marcos Rodríguez.
Main image: @LCFC.
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