Maresca on telling Leicester players they have to leave

Leicester City’s Enzo Maresca has recently been on the receiving end of transfer speculation questions. Here is what he had to say after asked.

To provide a brief explanation of context: the King Power side are in the midst of their biggest transformational process since the ousting of regressive possession under Claude Puel. There are those in the squad which were signed to suit a particular system, and those who have performed their whole lives in certain roles. These players lack the necessary qualities and attributes to immediately perform in ‘Marescaball’.

We have already commented on a few of these frozen individuals. From the giant Australian Harry Souttar to Danish left-back Victor Kristiansen, but there are more names who could be included in the list of those the Italian head coach believes are not suited, or are not ready.

There are at least eight senior team players who have not featured at all, and two others who have featured less than 30 minutes. Luke Thomas, Patson Daka, Boubakary Soumare, Timothy Castagne, James Justin, and Marc Albrighton are named within this long list.

Leicester City have to let players go

Maresca himself makes a series of fair and interesting points which clearly inform us that some of those being ignored by the Foxes are being ignored for a good reason:

"“[Regarding not selecting them] For some of them it was a technical decision and for some of them there are some noises so it was probably better for them to stay at home… [regarding wanting players to leave] the players already know, they can understand from day by day. But for sure I have spoken with them. They all know my idea about them”"

So, the decision not select players such as Thomas, Souttar, Kristiansen, and Albrighton is a technical decision. These are likely those who are not stylistically suited to the system deployed by Maresca. Leicester do not want to use players for the sake of it, they need to fit the role of the position.

Likewise, those such as Daka and Soumare are on ice due to the rumblings of discontent and transfer rumours spiralling into a full-blown lack of commitment to the cause. The only exception to that rule would be the Belgian defender Wout Faes, who’s committed to the Foxes in-spite of relegation and incessant transfer talk.

However, it is worth noting that no transfer away is imminent. From the boss himself, we understand a lack of movement is in no way due to a lack of desire from the players or interest from clubs. It could be teams are waiting on Leicester City to reduce their valuations before launching bids. We could still see movement as four of these eight could be moved on.