Thanks to poor planning at board level, habitual overreaching and a penchant for financial imprudence, Leicester City Football Club has fallen. While the Foxes' descent was catastrophic and unpredictable to some, for savvy members amongst the Blue Army, the situation on Filbert Way has been unravelling like a predictable tragicomedy for years.
LCFC, a once-lauded organisation that ascended to the summit of English football, now finds itself a tier three nobody. Yet any club can rise again; City were in this precarious position roughly 16 years ago and dragged themselves to glory, although a fundamental change in ownership might be a requisite for such a miracle to reoccur.
One harrowing byproduct of descending to the lower leagues is the inevitable dismantling of the squad, which inevitably claims the brightest youth stars too. Consequently, Jeremy Monga appears a certain departure to Arsenal (£10-15m) in that regard.
Meanwhile, three senior figures are slated for sale, according to John Percy at The Telegraph. The club must scramble to satisfy Profit and Sustainability regulations and offload exorbitant wages.
Four Foxes Leicester City likely to sell
Abdul Fatawu carries a significant £30 million release clause. Supporters live in hope that a frenzied bidding war might see this activated to bolster the coffers.
Elsewhere, the experienced Jannik Vestergaard will likely command a nominal fee of merely £1-2 million. Finally, the premium attached to quality, homegrown English talent suggests that approximately £5-6 million may potentially be raised for Ben Nelson.
"A significant revamp of the squad is expected with Ghana international Abdul Fatawu, highly rated centre-back Ben Nelson and Danish international Jannik Vestergaard expected to be sold this summer."- Percy
It is a sombre period for the East Midlands outfit, whose recent history serves as both a testament to what is possible and a cautionary tale of what is lost. Given the current climate of austerity at the club, this development doesn't feel quite as bad as it could have, but still very hard for some loyal members of the faithful to reconcile.
Add us as a preferred source on Google