Leicester City’s summer squad build is a “puzzle” and the club should have already started putting the pieces together, manager Ruud van Nistelrooy has said.
While Sunday’s final home clash of the season was focused on Jamie Vardy’s goodbye, he won’t have been the only player making their last King Power Stadium appearance.
There’s only a handful players who are certainties to leave City – such as loanees Facundo Buonanotte and Odsonne Edouard, and out-of-contract goalkeepers Daniel Iversen and Danny Ward – but widespread changes are expected.
A total of 13 senior players left either permanently or on loan when City were last relegated, and a similar number could depart this summer.
Some will be sold as they look to avoid playing in the Championship, while some will have to be sold in order to generate revenue for the club.
It’s a process that should have already begun in van Nistelrooy’s eyes, but the hierarchy having not yet given him the “alignment” he craves to prepare for the future means it’s at a standstill.
“We have to wait and see how that develops,” van Nistelrooy said when asked if there were more players who had made their final King Power Stadium outing.
“It’s clear with Jamie and a couple of others who are out of contract. The situation is clear. Others are under contract and the situation is unclear. We have to wait and see how that develops
“You have to start to make the puzzle and put the pieces together, and which pieces are leaving and which pieces you need to replace. That process is something I would like to have started a lot earlier.”
It could have been van Nistelrooy’s final appearance in the home dugout at the King Power Stadium too.
There are serious doubts over his future, and City continue to be linked to new bosses ahead of their return to the Championship.
Van Nistelrooy is finishing with his best run of form, the 2-0 win over Ipswich marking the first time this season that City have put together a three-match unbeaten run.
“I believe in the way I work,” he added. “I believe that when you consistently work in a certain way, I’m convinced it will produce results. It didn’t come soon enough, that’s the hard thing.”
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