Leicester City better off without European Football, says Paul Merson

Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson thinks Leicester City would be better served if they are not playing European football next season.

The UEFA Europa League dream was beginning to feel like a stretch during the dark last few weeks of Claude Puel’s reign, when winning was a matter of if rather than when.

Brendan Rodgers’ arrival has changed that. The narrative around the season is different, as is the opinion regarding the maximum that can be achieved.

Not only have Leicester’s results got better but their fortunes, too, with not much separating them from Wolverhampton Wanderers after their defeats to Burnley and Southampton.

While everyone is just starting to believe in the European dream and hoping for Leicester to unleash their A-game for the run-in, Paul Merson isn’t quite convinced that European Football is something that could benefit the club in any way.

Speaking on The Debate, the former Arsenal player said:

"“I think with Brendan (Rodgers) he could do without it (European football). Brendan’s just come in and would probably want a long pre-season with his players to bind to what he wants.“He’s going to have to bring in some of his players that he likes so he’s going to need a longer pre-season than a Wolves.”"

Does he have a point? One could say that he does. You don’t have to look any further than Burnley to be able to gauge the extent of the damage that Europa League qualification can sometimes do.

It leads to an exhausting pre-season, and by the time the Premier League begins, you already have the legs of a team battling relegation in late December.

If you look at the positive side, then European football obviously brings financial rewards and a rewarding experience for young players, so there are both the positives and the negatives.

But we can always have this discussion if and when Leicester have actually made it to Europe.