At the start of the season, several anomalies formed in the Premier League table. Arsenal are in first place, Brighton is in the top 4, Fulham closes the top 6, and Liverpool and Chelsea are slipping lower (the position before the 9th round). Even more interesting in the relegation zone: the recent contender for the European Cup places Leicester settled on the last line with 1 point.
Rogers' team is still unlucky: in the first 7 rounds they had to play with Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham and take off Brighton. The last two games have been a nightmare: 2-6 in North London, 2-5 at Amex Stadium. 6 defeats in a row (after a 2-2 draw with Brentford in the first round) is the worst result in the history of the club in the elite since 1983. 22 goals conceded in 7 games the worst record in Premier League history
But Leicester in the last 5 years after the sensational championship 2015/16 was in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, twice finished fifth, won the FA Cup, and only six months ago reached the semi-finals of the Conference League.
What happened?
Leicester failed the transfer window. The problem is money: despite strong sales, the club has serious losses
The potential problems of Leicester were discussed in the summer: until the end of August, the club 1win-azerbaycan.com remained the only one in the top 5 championships without incoming transfers. Against the background of the usual rumors about the departure of leaders (Thielemans to Arsenal, Maddison to Newcastle), the team lost longtime captain Kasper Schmeichel (transfer to Nice) and earned £73m from defender Wesley Fofana. Putting the money into circulation did not work out: Leicester spent only 15 million on the central defender Wout Fas from Reims (he has played only one match so far) and calmed down on this. & nbsp;
The situation is easy to explain: despite regular strong sales, Leicester is experiencing serious financial problems. Over the past three seasons, the club recorded a loss of 120 million pounds. At the same time, Leicester does not go beyond the border of financial fair play, set at around 105 million. Infrastructure improvements may not be taken into account in the calculations: the club has spent & nbsp; 95 million for the construction of one of the best training facilities in the Premier League, the improvement of the academy complex and the creation of a women's team.
The main problem for Leicester is a very expensive squad by the standards of the club. In the 2019/20 season, the salary-to-income ratio was 105%. Everton and Bournemouth were in a similar position, and the anti-record in the top leagues was set by the Italian Milan 108%. In the championships, the situation is simpler and worse: Nottingham Forest in March 2022 in the Championship broke 200%.
Last season, Leicester managed to lower the figure to a slightly more acceptable 85%. New UEFA Financial Fair Play allows spending no more than 70% of the budget on salaries.
Jamie Vardy is the highest paid club footballer (140 thousand pounds a week)
In general, Leicester urgently needs to look for new sources of income, reduce the payroll and try to balance. This means no new transfers, as long as the club already has enough players on the contract, and the likely sale of leaders.
Leicester owner Top Wichai explained the situation in detail in early September, when the transfer window closed:< /p>
This is a difficult period for the club, and long-term sustainability has become our priority.
First of all, I want to assure you that Leicester's overall financial situation is completely secure and reinforced by my constant personal involvement and commitment my family. The club is as safe in our hands as it has been every day for the past 12 years.
But sometimes we have to make difficult decisions that protect the long-term interests of the club. That decision was our approach to transfers this summer. Our net spending has increased in recent seasons. We continue to look for new sources of income to compete with the established football elite in the long term, but our short term means of offsetting profits is through player trading. We did this successfully for five summers in a row until 2021, when we decided to invest in a team without significant sales (summer 2021 the only one in recent years that Leicester did without a big sale of a player, but at the same time spent 60 million on newcomers pounds). This summer, we couldn't risk further unbalancing that equation, so we decided we needed to clear some space on the team before adding new players.