Leicester City’s summer of stasis threatens to unravel progress under Brendan Rodgers

Leicester are one of only two clubs in Europe’s top-five leagues not to have signed a player so far this summer, and plans for a squad overhaul have had to be shelved

Youri Tielemans remains at the club despite interest from Arsenal

(Getty Images)

New York City FC are aware of interest, their head coach said. Nick Cushing admitted Valentin Castellanos has admirers. The 2021 MLS Golden Boot winner is tipped to join Girona, possibly on a loan deal after joining NYC’s sister club Manchester City. And if the Argentinian forward does go to Italy, it would leave Leicester City on their own as the only club in Europe’s five major leagues not to sign anyone this summer.

The Premier League’s spending this window has topped £1bn, but no arrivals are imminent at the King Power Stadium. A club widely admired for their transfer business in recent years have done none, beyond releasing third-choice goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic. Welcome to the paradox of Leicester. They have signed no players and yet they have too many. Brendan Rodgers may have imagined a revolving door, as perhaps five came in and eight went out, when he had the scene for an overhaul. Instead, the exit has been jammed, also preventing anyone from entering.

They may be encountering an increasingly familiar problem for Premier League purchasers who have stockpiled players in recent years: others, especially abroad, are reluctant to pay the prices and the wages to rid them of the unwanted. In accidental fashion, Leicester have become the division’s continuity club. The faces are all familiar. With no European football, and with so many pedigree players that the £13m signing Nampalys Mendy was not even named in their Premier League squad for the first half of last season, the intention now was for a slimmed-down squad. Instead, they still lack room on the pitch and the wage bill alike for newcomers.