Leicester City find themselves in a “mess” ahead of the upcoming SkyBet League One campaign.
The Foxes have fallen to successive relegations, and a long collapse from the heady heights of their fairytale Premier League title a decade ago and Champions League outings in the years in between.
Kieran Maguire, the host of The Price of Football podcast and a football finance academic, sat down exclusively with the Football Lowdown. He spoke about a range of topics with League One Lowdown co-host Jamie Johnson, including the sorry state of Leicester’s current position.
“Leicester is an absolute mess,” he summarised.
The average wage bill in the third tier sits at £9million, while Kieran explained that last season’s figure at the King Power Stadium stood at a comparatively staggering £153million.
A number of high-profile players have already left the Foxes, including Portuguese star Ricardo Pereira, as they look to re-set the financial position of the club.
Financially doubts over Leicester City:
Kieran is doubting of the suggestion Leicester players had double relegated clauses etched into their contracts, indicating that the financial position of the 2020/21 FA Cup winners may be worse than they are willing to let on.
“The club is putting out that there were double relegation clauses if they got relegated to League One,” he added. “I have spoken to a few agents, not of players at the club, but it is a new one of them.”
Leicester fell from the Championship after managing 46 points across the campaign. This was after a six-point deduction, which was enough to drop them on the wrong side of the dotted line.
After just 18 wins across two seasons of league football, the Foxes find themselves back in the division they won in 2013/14.
One of the sides replacing them in the second tier, Lincoln City, were in the National League that year, while recent European qualifiers AFC Bournemouth finished 10th in Leicester’s League One winning term, just one place above Nottingham Forest.
The smallest of silver linings for the new League One outfit:
Leicester City do have one factor in their favour though, heading into the 2026/27 campaign.
Kieran said: “They will be in receipt of parachute payments, so that will get them over a line to a certain extent. They are going to have to sell an awful lot of players.”
Much like Luton Town last season, who only narrowly missed out on a play-off spot, Leicester have the benefit of Premier League parachute payments given the upcoming season is only their second since dropping from the top-flight.
Jack Wilshere’s men won the EFL Trophy and were only a point away from a top six place, with parachute payments no doubt aiding their course.
However, Leicester City remain in a sticky position. Financially, the consequences of two relegations in as many seasons is bound to be felt strongly, while on the pitch fortunes need to turn around quickly to avoid worsening an already torrid situation.
