Brendan Rodgers attempts to justify last season’s disastrous transfer business

 A combination of a number of years

Having excused his  business last summer, Rodgers was then asked if the lack of activity this summer is directly affected by those poor deals, with his answer posing more questions than answers:

"“It’s from before. It’s not just last summer. It’s a combination of a number of years. It’s unfair to isolate those players and say it’s just those players.”"

If not an issue directly from last summer’s recruitment, it is unclear which window he is speaking of. Looking back at the last three windows, it is hard to find one so detrimental to the squad’s size and lack of quality.

In the 20/21 window, the Foxes spent big money on both Wesley Fofana and Timothy Castagne, two exceptional pieces of recruitment. Both are mainstays in the starting XI and offer immense quality on the pitch. The only bad business done was the loan signing of Cengiz Under, but being a loan, he left the club at the end of the season.

In terms of the departures, the Foxes sold Chilwell along with Demari Gray and Fousseni Diabaté. Meanwhile, deadwood players such as Adrien Silva, Bartosz Kapustka, George Thomas, and Islam Slimani were all let go on free transfers.

Rodgers’ first transfer window was the summer of 2019/20 in which he signed Ayoze Perez for £30m, Youri Tielemans for £40m, Dennis Praet for £17m and James Justin for £6m, meanhwile he sold Harry Maguire for a record fee of £80m, whilst Callum Elder also left. Perez is one of those who is looking to sold and his fee should never have touched £30m, but Tielemans and Praet were both smart additions, whilst Justin was a coup and a half.

The Foxes haven’t recruited in huge numbers and every year – except this window – they have frequently been able to sell their deadwood, even in a Covid effected transfer market. Unfortunately for Rodgers, if the problem is a combination of multiple years, then he and his scouts are still responsible; he’s had seven transfer windows to bring in who he wants and to shape his squad.

Every team will have signings that don’t work out, it’s natural and happens to the biggest clubs around. Fans, deep down, know this and can accept this. What they can’t accept is excuses rather than accepting responsibility. Rodgers needs to learn this; he is already on thin ice with the Leicester City faithful.

Perhaps the four he brought in during last summer were just cover players, perhaps it is an issue that stems from multiple seasons, but those players can’t cover for his own mistakes. Right now, with all the speculation and rumours surrounding the club, supporters need clarity. If he can provide this, then perhaps there is still life in Rodgers’ LCFC project yet.