In the week before Leicester City’s last Championship campaign began, Enzo Maresca claimed six players had had a change of heart over their futures.
The half-dozen had signalled their intent to leave the King Power Stadium at the start of the summer, but after a month of working with the Italian had told him of their desire to stay.
Maresca turned down the opportunity to name the City players and so the claim was his word alone, but it doesn’t feel far-fetched with what followed after.
It looked like a happy, committed, together squad that won the Championship for City, and they were clearly big admirers of Maresca and his style of play.
However, the early signs this summer are that convincing players to willingly stay will be a more difficult task.
Because it may not have been solely Maresca’s football that drove that commitment. There was a greater sense two summers ago that City’s return to the Championship would be a brief, one-season stay.
For the players that saw their careers at the top level, they just had to grin and bear (and in the end, enjoy) one season in the second tier, and then they’d be playing regular top-flight football from there on in.
But after such a meek relegation, there’s not that same feeling around City. This could be their new reality, flitting between the top two divisions, rather than heading back up and staying there.
An immediate promotion also feels less likely with the points deduction hanging over them and with the base of the squad lower in quality than after their last relegation.
A lot of the players at City likely see themselves as top-flight players. Most have spent much of their careers in the Premier League, and with a handful having played in Europe.
Many signed up to play in the Premier League. Even for those that joined in the Championship in the summer of 2023, like Harry Winks and Conor Coady, it was with the sense that City would be an established Premier League team again soon.
In the past week, Ricardo Pereira’s agent has said the right-back’s plan is to find a “more attractive project”, Caleb Okoli’s representatives have reportedly been pushing to get him a move back to Serie A, and Jordan Ayew has said he could leave.
That’s not even considering the players who City likely have to sell for the revenue they will bring in, like Mads Hermansen and Bilal El Khannouss, and others who have been linked away, like Wout Faes, Jannik Vestergaard, Boubakary Soumare, and Wilfred Ndidi.
As things stand, it seems City will either sell a lot of their squad, or end up with players who reluctantly stay.
It’s why the manager is so important. As Maresca showed, there is a way in which a boss can win over players.
Ruud van Nistelrooy may come with the baggage of relegation and so may find it tough to convince players that City is an exciting club for them to be at.
But even if van Nistelrooy is sacked, the new manager will have a tricky job too, especially if they come in late.
Ideally, if there is to be a new manager, it would be best if they were in the door now and able to ring around the squad, explain their plans and plant the seeds of why City can get back to the Premier League and stay there. They need a boss who can show players the role they can have moving forward and generate enthusiasm.
But so far, there’s been no movement on the manager front at City, and very little progress towards preparing for the new campaign.
As things stand, there’s either going to be a very big job for the manager to convince players to stay, or there’s going to be a very big job for the recruitment department to replace the seemingly-growing list of players who don’t see their futures at the King Power Stadium.
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Get your special Jamie Vardy edition of the Leicester Mercury
Jamie Vardy souvenir edition of the Leicester Mercury
It was certainly a fairytale ending to Jamie Vardy's Leicester City career - netting his 200th goal in his final match for the club.
To celebrate, we are launching a this special edition of the Leicester Mercury where we look back at the striker's amazing career - his journey from non-league to England international, his greatest goals and where he stands in the Foxes' list of all-time greats.
We also revisit the trophy-winning campaigns - the 2021 FA Cup and, of course, the 2016 Premier League title.
And there are plenty of tributes from those who played with him, against him and worked with him.
Jamie Vardy, it's certainly been a party!
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