How much cash Leicester City have really saved after big earners exit, King Power crisis in Thailand key

Add as preferred source on Google

This summer has been a story of cutting costs and saving money where possible for Leicester City.

Marti Cifuentes has been cutting down the squad and that has meant the departure of some big faces.

Mads Hermansen left for West Ham United, Conor Coady has joined Wrexham and the long-serving Wilfred Ndidi has also gone.

Jamie Vardy departed last season and that means the wage bill has almost certainly been cut down.

But, with a points deduction looming over Leicester and their owners King Power facing financial bother, EFL Analysis can reveal just how much the Foxes have actually saved.

• READ MORE: Leicester City, Preston and Wrexham are on course to continue historic Championship feat that has never been broken

King Power’s Thailand crisis has played a huge part in Leicester’s activity

Administration is still unlikely for Leicester despite King Power’s troubles but extreme measures are being taken to cut costs across the board.

EFL Analysis‘ Chief Finance Correspondent Adam Williams believes that one of the reasons why the wage bill is consciously being cut down is directly linked to the troubles in Thailand.

He said: “When a team has gone up and then down again, it’s usually relatively tricky to say where they are with the wage bill. We don’t have the 2024-25 accounts yet, so we don’t know to what extent their wage bill rose last season.

“The last time Leicester were relegated from the Premier League, their wage bill more or less halved, from £206m to £107m. That seemingly wasn’t enough to get them within the PSR perimeters for the three-year assessment window, however. At least, that’s what the Premier League are arguing.

“Regardless of the outcome of that case, the plan will have been to significantly trim the wage bill this season. Leeds paid players £84m in 2023-24, while Southampton, the other parachute payment club, were at £81m. I expect Leicester to be closer to those figures.

“In fact, if you look at the profile of players they have signed versus those they’ve let go, it wouldn’t surprise me for them to be closer to the £70-75m bracket, if not a little lower.

“The owners are clearly having some liquidity issues and they will have been conscious of those when they negotiated contracts ahead of 2024-25, probably with more significant step-down clauses than they have had previously.

“Coady, Vardy, Ward, Hermansen, Ndidi, Iversen were all on good wages. Vardy, in particular. But they needed to re-base the squad, A) because of PSR and B) because the owners presumably don’t want to subsidise the club any more than is necessary while they get to grips with their business situation in Thailand.”

Leicester’s transfer business may already be done

As the transfer window deadline gets closer and closer, it is becoming more apparent that Leicester are going to be having a quiet one.

The Foxes missed out on Richard Kone to QPR while links to any new signings have been nothing more than sporadic at best.

Bilal El Khannouss could leave Leicester and Harry Winks’ recent celebration suggests he may be going elsewhere too.

It’s going to feel like a long wait until the 1 September deadline for supporters.