Leicester City’s first team is not built for a long future together like the squads of many of their Premier League rivals, latest research suggests.
Including loanees, 14 members of Ruud van Nistelrooy’s squad see their contracts at the King Power Stadium expire within the next 18 months.
Broken down further, the CIES Football Observatory have noted that only 55 per cent of City minutes this season have been played by those on contracts beyond the summer of 2026.
Among Premier League sides, only Everton, on 34 per cent, are fielding players with shorter guaranteed futures at the club. For teams like Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Bournemouth, the figure is above 80 per cent.
There are a few possible explanations and a few possible interpretations of the data.
It may be that City’s concerns around Profit and Sustainability Rules and their battle to keep within the guidelines has prevented them from handing out the contracts they have wanted to.
Over the past couple of years, fresh terms have only been offered to those whose deals have expired (like Jamie Vardy, Jannik Vestergaard and Wilfred Ndidi), those whose deals were close to expiring (like Kasey McAteer and Hamza Choudhury), or to up-and-coming players (like Will Alves and Ben Nelson).
Handing long contracts to players whose futures are already secure, as they once did, is not such a priority when the margins around financial regulations are so slim.
However, it was City that put themselves into a predicament around PSR. It was poor planning. It could be argued that having such a large number of players on shorter contracts is poor planning too. It perhaps represents a short-termist approach, or a lack of a long-term vision.
Most of the 14 players that fall into the bracket see their deals run out in 2026. Among loanees and players whose deals run out in 2025, there’s only Facundo Buonanotte and Jamie Vardy who have played a significant number of minutes.
In 2026, City are currently set to lose Jordan Ayew, Conor Coady, Ricardo Pereira, Harry Winks, Boubakary Soumare, Patson Daka, James Justin, Jakub Stolarczyk and Luke Thomas.
For those who have just over a year on their contracts, it might be difficult for City to sell them for decent sums. This summer, they’ll have 12 months left on their contracts and players in that situation often go for cut-price fees.
That’s if they go. There’s a risk they only leave when their contracts are up in a year’s time. City have had issues in the past with losing potentially valuable players on free transfers.
But there’s a positive view to take too. It could be argued that by having players on such contracts, City are allowing themselves the chance to undergo a rebuild.
For those players who have one year left on their deals, will they want to stick around in the Championship, with their wages cut considerably, when there’s no guarantee they’ll get a new deal and a wage boost in the event City secure promotion straight back to the Premier League?
If City go down, those players may push for an exit, and that will help the club clear the decks and make space in the wage bill to overhaul the squad.
Then again, an overhaul costs money. If City do have a clearout will they be able to afford a significant rebuild?
They have lots of promising academy players they can lean on. It’s the Under-21s’ success this season, and the emergence of several talented teenagers with very high ceilings that suggests City are in fact well-set for the future.
But, for next season at least, if City want to achieve promotion, academy players will be supplementing the squad, not forming the core of it.
They will still have to spend a decent amount of money to build a side capable of getting straight back up.
There are plenty of ifs and maybes there. But what is clear is that, as things stand, City do not have a squad they will move into the future with.
Given their current standing in the Premier League, many may feel that’s a good thing. But only if they have the money, scouting infrastructure, and academy talent to replace those who leave.
Which of the players with deals expiring in 2026 would you offer a new contract to? Click HERE to have your say
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