Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers upset over transfer activity

Leicester in 20th place

Leicester City started the new Premier League season extremely badly with one point from the first five games and are at the bottom of the table. After the 0-1 draw against Manchester United on Thursday’s deadline day, coach Brendan Rodgers was particularly annoyed by the low level of activity by the “Foxes” on the transfer market. Leicester spent €17m on new players, the lowest of any club in the English top flight. More precisely, the amount went solely to Wout Faes (24), who came on the last day of the transfer period to replace Wesley Fofana (21), who left 80 million.

In addition to Faes, only the free transfer of Alex Smithies (32) as the third goalkeeper is booked in the transfer summer. On the side of departures, apart from Fofana, only Kasper Schmeichel (35) provided revenue with a move to OGC Nice for one million euros. Rodgers therefore summarized that it was “clear to see” that the quality of the “Foxes” has gone down. “With all due respect, we didn’t have the support in the market that this team needed,” he said. However, the 49-year-old emphasized: “What is most important is the sustainability of the club. I would have liked to have brought in five or six players to improve the quality of the group, but if that’s not possible I respect that. I have to do the best I can with the resources at my disposal.”

On Deadline Day, club president Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha wrote to fans, explaining that increased spending over the past few seasons means that player sales have had to be used to generate revenue. These were necessary “to ensure that we comply with sustainability regulations,” it said. The long-term goal is “to be able to compete with the established elite”. Rodgers said the situation was “frustrating” but he respected the people at the club, he said. The Englishman has been with the Foxes since February 2019, for whom he has played 175 games to date and scored an average of 1.65 points. Rodgers led the club to ninth place in his first season before placings five, five and eight. Leicester fell just a few points short of returning to international football last season.

“As for the results, I am responsible for that. We should have won by now, we were in really good positions in a couple of games but didn’t finish it so I totally get it.” “The fans want to see their team win and when they don’t, they say so.” Leicester meet Brighton & Hove Albion, who conceded their first defeat of the season at Fulham on Tuesday, next round. Looking ahead to the season, Rodgers simply said he was looking forward to “taking up the challenge.” His contract with the Foxes runs until 2025.

To home page