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Leicester squad audit: Who stays? Who goes?
After relegation was confirmed on the final day of the season, the dejected Leicester City players sat in silence, looking around the dressing room at their team-mates.
Will you be here next season?
Will I be here next season?
Who will the manager be next season?
Will he want me next season?
Do I want to be here next season?
All those questions will have run through their minds.
As captain Jonny Evans — whose own future is unclear as he considers a new contract offer to replace the one expiring this month that would mean a season, at least, in the Championship — later revealed, many of the players knew they will be leaving this summer and said their goodbyes.
Youri Tielemans, Caglar Soyuncu, Daniel Amartey, Nampalys Mendy and Ryan Bertrand have gone; so has Ayoze Perez, who was on loan at Real Betis in La Liga for the second half of what was the final year of his contract. Others will be sold post-relegation because they are assets. A player such as James Maddison, for example, is too good not to be in the Premier League, or another of Europe’s top divisions. Others will be sold to get their wages off the books as Leicester prepare for life back in the EFL after nine incredible years in the Premier League.
The squad tasked with trying to get the club straight back up will look very different when the season kicks off on the first weekend in August, let alone by the time the window closes on September 1.
Here is an audit of the existing first-team pool of players who are under contract going into the summer.
Goalkeepers
Daniel Iversen (contract expires 2025)
The 25-year-old Dane stepped up towards the end of last season to become the number one after Brendan Rodgers ran out of patience with Danny Ward late in his reign, and it was notable that interim manager Dean Smith stuck with him too. Iversen did enough in those games to retain the gloves and his experience in the Championship — his loan spell at Preston North End saw him named their 2021-22 player of the year — could ensure he is Leicester’s main man for the new campaign.
Had they stayed up, Leicester may have looked to bring in a more experienced first-choice, but the resources that would have involved will now be required elsewhere.
Danny Ward (contract expires 2025)
Where does Ward go from here?
When he joined in the summer of 2018 from Liverpool in a £10million ($12.6m) deal, he must have felt he was coming to become the starting goalkeeper whenever Kasper Schmeichel moved on. That was the reason Leicester signed him after all, expecting the Denmark international to be snapped up.
After instead having to wait nearly four years to make his Premier League debut, the Wales international was finally given his chance last season by Rodgers. But Ward was unconvincing and was replaced in March with Iversen.
He still has two years left on his contract but Ward, who turns 30 in a week, may need a fresh start to reignite his career. A loan could be a possibility.
Alex Smithies (contract expires 2024)
Before Schmeichel signed for Leicester 12 years ago, Smithies was on their radar as an emerging talent at Huddersfield Town. They eventually signed him on a free last summer, but as back-up to Ward and Iversen after Schmeichel’s departure to French club Nice.
Now 33, Smithies is yet to play a single minute for the club but could get his opportunity next season.
Right-backs
Ricardo Pereira (contract expires 2026)
Injuries have plagued the Portugal international over the past few seasons, starting with ACL knee damage in the last Premier League game before the Covid-19 lockdown started in March 2020, just as he was emerging as one of the best right-backs in England. He has only shown sporadic glimpses of that form since due to more problems, including a ruptured Achilles.
Pereira, 29, would have been an asset that would have been a certainty to move on after relegation, but that injury record may deter many suitors.
James Justin (contract expires 2026)
His injury woes have mirrored Pereira’s and, just like his fellow full-back, have pumped the brakes on a flourishing career.
Justin is a classic example of Leicester getting their recruitment policy right: plucking him for a reasonable fee at age 21 from a third-division team (Luton Town, who had just won promotion to the Championship) and developing him over time into an England international. Rodgers and Smith both considered the now 25-year-old to be the best defender in the squad.
Timothy Castagne (contract expires 2025)
Nobody logged more Premier League minutes for Leicester last season (over five whole matches more than their next-most active player) and Castagne has also been one of their most consistent and reliable performers in his three years at the club. But the 27-year-old Belgium international is expected to move on this summer. He is on a list of players available for transfer post-relegation as they look to cut the wage bill.
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Left-backs
Victor Kristiansen (contract expires 2028)
The Denmark Under-21 international began last season playing in the Champions League with FC Copenhagen, helping keep a clean sheet against its eventual winners Manchester City in October, and will receive a Danish league title winner’s medal thanks to his 15 top-flight appearances.
He would never have imagined he would be playing in the Championship 12 months later. But Kristiansen, 20, will have an important role in the attempt to get Leicester, who he joined in January, back into the Premier League and he has already expressed his commitment to that cause.
Luke Thomas (contract expires 2024)
Academy graduate Thomas slipped down the pecking order under Rodgers, especially after Kristiansen’s mid-season arrival, but regained his place under Smith on the run-in. The 22-year-old’s battle with the Dane for the starting left-back berth will be interesting to watch.
Centre-backs
Wout Faes (contract expires 2027)
Like Kristiansen, relegation wasn’t part of the plan when Faes joined from French club Reims last summer. Another Belgium international, he could be one of those targeted by other clubs following Leicester’s drop into the Championship, although the 25-year-old still has four years left on his contract.
Harry Souttar (contract expires 2028)
One of Leicester’s few players with Championship experience, having only joined from Stoke City in January. The Australia international is expected to be a key individual in a rebuilt defence next season, particularly if Jonny Evans decides not to re-sign.
Jonny Evans (contract expired)
Club captain Evans has been offered a new contract to replace the one about to expire but will assess all his options before committing to the 46-game grind in the Championship — a level the now 35-year-old last played at during a 2006-07 loan from Manchester United to Sunderland. Evans is coming off an injury-plagued season that saw him start only 12 league matches but Leicester view his experience as important to what could be a very young squad for 2023-24.
Jannik Vestergaard (contract expires 2024)
Leicester have tried to shift the Denmark international in the last two transfer windows but he rejected transfers to Fulham and Hertha Berlin, the latter because his wife was heavily pregnant at the time and he didn’t want his family to uproot to Germany. Having made just three appearances last season, none of them in the Premier League, and with Vestergaard turning 31 before Leicester play their next official game, it is time for all parties to call time.
Midfielders
Wilfred Ndidi (contract expires 2024)
Ndidi has struggled to reproduce the form over the last two seasons that made him statistically one of the best defensive midfielders in the Premier League. With one year left on his contract, it might be time for a fresh start for the 51-cap Nigeria international. There will be interested suitors if the club do decide to cash in.
Hamza Choudhury (contract expires 2024)
Leicester have activated the one-year option on his contract to keep him around. In a strange twist of fate, having looked on his way out of the club and after a year on loan at Watford in the Championship that saw him start 36 league games last season, the 25-year-old could have an important role to play.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (contract expires 2027)
Another product of the academy, and another who has Championship experience after his 40-appearance loan at Luton in 2020-21. Dewsbury-Hall was a Rodgers favourite because he added so much energy and aggression to the midfield, but successor Smith hardly used him (191 minutes in the eight games). At times, the 24-year-old could give the ball away in dangerous places, but won’t be punished quite so ruthlessly for that in the second division.
Boubakary Soumare (contract expires 2026)
The Frenchman is still a work in progress at age 24 and three years after signing from Lille. There are moments when he looks every inch the former Ligue 1 winner he is; a hybrid of Youri Tielemans’ passing ability and Ndidi’s defensive talents. However, Leicester fans haven’t seen his best level consistently enough as Soumare has struggled to adapt to the pace and physicality of the Premier League. And it is only going to get even more frantic one rung down the ladder.
Dennis Praet (contract expires 2024)
After spending the 2020-21 season on loan at Torino in Serie A, Leicester’s lack of transfer activity last summer meant Praet had a second chance to impress Rodgers, but he failed to make an impact when called upon. It seems inevitable that Praet, a 29-year-old Belgium international, will depart this summer.
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Attacking midfielders
Marc Albrighton (contract expires 2024)
Only Albrighton and Jamie Vardy now remain from the title-winning squad of 2016. Albrighton went on loan to West Bromwich Albion of the Championship in January — at his own request — because of a lack of opportunities under Rodgers. He would never have expected to return to a Leicester side who are now among West Brom’s direct rivals for promotion from that division. It’s noteworthy that the club let their vice-captain, now 33, leave at a time when they needed leadership and experience for the fight against the drop.
James Maddison (contract expires 2024)
Arguably the only Leicester player who truly developed and improved under Rodgers. The club’s most bankable asset and most effective attacker over the last two seasons, Maddison will be sold, with Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur currently leading the chase. Leicester are hoping to get £60million but may have to settle for less.
Harvey Barnes (contract expires 2025)
Last season’s top scorer for the club — with 13 goals in all competitions — and the other big asset they can sell this summer to generate transfer capital. Leicester academy product Barnes has been linked with Aston Villa and seems extremely likely to be sold. Both Rodgers and Smith were frustrated at times that they couldn’t get the 25-year-old to make more effective runs, but he was always a threat regardless.
Strikers
Jamie Vardy (contract expires 2024)
What an astonishing career at Leicester. Fairytale stuff. But this isn’t the intended ending of Vardy’s footballing life story. The question now, ahead of a season during which he will turn 37, is does he feel up for the challenge of getting Leicester back into the Premier League as the great finale, or is there a twist at the end of the tale that takes him somewhere else?
Patson Daka (contract expires 2026)
He was signed as the heir apparent to Vardy and while there have been some amazing moments, particularly that four-goal night against Spartak Moscow in his third Leicester start, Daka looked to be struggling last season for form and confidence. Potentially, though, the 24-year-old could take the 2023-24 Championship by storm.
Kelechi Iheanacho (contract expires 2024)
A fans’ favourite whose omissions from the starting line-up so consistently during his six years at the club have been largely to do with Vardy’s continuing strong form, plus the system and tactics employed by various managers. Is he a lone striker? Or is he a second striker? Probably more the latter but, in truth, he is a different beast altogether. The 26-year-old Nigeria international can score goals of all types and, because of that, there are likely to be takers for him this summer.
Younger reinforcements
Lewis Brunt (contract expires 2025)
A utility player who has been in and around the first team for the past two seasons without clocking up a lot of minutes (just 45 off the bench in the league plus two FA Cup starts). The 22-year-old’s versatility could be an asset in the new-look squad.
Ben Nelson (contract expiry unknown)
The central defender is highly rated at Leicester. The 19-year-old had two loan spells in League Two last season, first with a Rochdale side who ended up relegated and then mid-table Doncaster Rovers, with varying degrees of success. But is he ready to step up two divisions to play at Championship level?
Jakub Stolarczyk (contract expires 2026)
Polish goalkeeper who also spent last season out on loan gaining experience, with Fleetwood Town of League One until January and then a division lower with relegation-bound Hartlepool. Like Nelson, the 22-year-old is well-regarded at Leicester — Rodgers saw him as a future number one.
George Hirst (contract expires 2025)
The striker has been at the club for four years now and, at the age of 24, it is a case of now or never. Hirst has already had four loan spells into the second and third tiers of English football in that time — the most recent seeing him score six goals in 10 appearances last season to help Ipswich Town win automatic promotion to the Championship — and it is questionable what another such move would do for his development.
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(Top photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images)
