Leicester must offer higher wages, increase budget for top six longevity

Without complaining too much, with Europa League, a new training ground being prepared and Premier League fifth secured, two glaring elements will ascend Leicester City.

The anticlimactic nature of missing Champions League qualification is felt more acutely as missed opportunity by many Blue Army members. Leicester City should have realised that aim, regardless of whether or not anticipation was generated by impassioned fan ambition following such inspiring play in the first half of the campaign.

However, us Foxes must now move on and again start looking forward to the European tour of next season. Clinching Europa League football is actually a great achievement for the positively evolving, growing East Midlands club.

Yet there are still issues to address, reported inadequacies and certain misguided business ideals that should be amended. Allow me to explain.

Leicester City must offer higher wages, increase transfer budget

Now, just to be clear, the Srivaddhanaprabha family have done and continue to do a wonderful job in ownership of Leicester City. The direction, ambition, manner and and general management of the club on and off the pitch is exemplary.

Although the aforementioned aspects – such as a fresh training ground as well as overall spending in recent years – are absolutely satisfactory. Even above the average for premiership outfits; yet two key factors remain to be increased inline with the King Power side’s objectives.

Offering higher wages will of course attract the premium talent of the globe. Naturally, Leicester City aren’t going to be quite able to compete with the revenue or fan bases of Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool or Chelsea. Though sustaining European qualification is the platform for stability.

In fact, Leicester’s owners are actually wealthier than those of United and Tottenham Hotspur. A reported transfer budget of £20 million – surely an underestimation omitting what’ll be added for outgoing players – would limit the Foxes to discovering once, twice or thrice in a lifetime gems such as Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and N’golo Kante.

While that is a great prospect, to compete with the big six on the field isn’t enough – challenging off it enables better personnel. And by default, those signing cannot strengthen competitors like United. A fair amount should also be allocated in order to retain fancied, current stars James Maddison and Caglar Soyuncu for example.

We know chairman Top Srivaddhanaprabha isn’t going to frivolously throw money at the squad, and that is very understandable. But is there a mutually beneficially, still prudent move, in slightly increasing funds available or to underpin with.

As a businessman, who is fifth on the English top-flight chief’s rich list, Srivaddhanaprabha may be missing out on a quality investment: £20m – £100m is supposedly earned for CL involvement, what is invested in transfers and high wages can expand via profit from sustaining as a European force.