There are funds to strengthen the Leicester City squad

Following the ‘Fulham way’

Many supporters will simply suggest purchasing U21 talent then. However, this comes with two major catches: firstly, it falls foul of both FFP and the long-term vision; secondly, it is just bad practice when you have so many fringe players.

Our last identifiable reason for a lack of signings is that long-term vision. Picture this, a newly promoted Leicester City splurge the cash and sign a whole new starting XI and bring some in on loan. They break the bank with a hope of staying competitive. They proceed to get injuries to that first XI and have to switch to subpar, but significantly cheaper secondary players.

Shock horror, it is the story of Fulham constantly and of Nottingham Forest this season. The Foxes cannot afford to do this on an incessant basis: we do not get parachute payments from constant relegation and promotion. Instead, we have to spend what we get plus some investment.

Sustainability & wishful thinking

Therein lies the biggest reason for no signings: we have the money; it would just be unsustainable. A football project has to be sustainable. It needs to work consistently and have strong commercials. It has to grow without breaking the bank incessantly. Otherwise, you end up like Blackpool and Derby County.

The long-term vision of the owners will not allow excessive, constant spending on player wages and signings, sometimes you need to keep what you have. Further, it only makes sense to sign when a big player leaves for big money early in the window. In other situations, we would be spending and hoping for success.

Outside of the pitch, the club continue to improve training and development of senior and youth players, they seek to turn King Power into a place for leisure, events, and entertainment, and they will expand the stadium. To compete with the biggest clubs, you have to be sustainable, and grow.

Throwing money around is not growing, it is wishful thinking. Even if it works – you create this brilliant team – Leicester could just end up running low on cash and losing a large portion of valuable players for less than they are worth.

As a couple more pieces of deadwood are extracted, there will be signings. There will be financial wiggle room in wages. There will be space in the squad, and it shall not negatively impact the long-term sustainability and growth of the club.