Who are the most likely to make way when Rodgers has his big clear-out?
WITH THE CITY BOSS SEEKING A SMALLER SQUAD, WE LOOK AT HOW THE CLUB MAY STREAMLINE THIS SUMMER
LEICESTER City will have two jobs this summer. Not only will they have to add three or four high-class players to improve the squad’s quality and depth, particularly in the case of Champions League qualification, but they will also have to streamline.
While there is usually a focus on bolstering the numbers ahead of a European campaign, with an already-hectic schedule reaching new levels of busyness, Rodgers wants just 25 senior players in his squad, which he will supplement with prospects from the development set-up.
The City boss has always favoured a smaller squad, and said last summer: “If you’re trying to manage 26 or 27 outfield players, it’s not good for the training because within that you have five or six players who feel they’re too far away.
“My feeling is to work with a tight group, a small group, so everyone feels really connected. Then if they are out, they know they’re not too far away.”
So as Rodgers looks to clear out his squad, who is in danger of being cut? We take a look.
LIKELY TO LEAVE
Andy King
After a 16-year association with the club, King is expected to finally head for an emotional exit this summer.
Since promotion to the Premier League, the Wales international has slowly moved further and further away from the first team and has spent the past few years away on loan at Swansea, Derby, Rangers and now Huddersfield.
He will return from the Terriers for a farewell, but then he will be gone for good.
Papy Mendy
The Frenchman has played more often than many expected over the past two months, filling in at the base of midfield, but that is unlikely to increase the likelihood of a prolonged stay at the King Power Stadium.
Mendy is still third-choice defensive midfielder behind Wilfred Ndidi and Hamza Choudhury and, entering his prime years, Rodgers expects him to leave at the end of his contract this summer to find a club where he will be a regular.
“He’s probably pretty clear that he’ll look elsewhere, with the age that he is at,” Rodgers said in January. “It’s about the age he’s at, it’s about game-time and he’s a very good player who, in a lot of teams, could play week in, week out. He’s getting to that age where he probably wants that.”
Islam Slimani
City have been trying to offload their one-time record signing for a while now, and may finally do so this summer.
This year, on loan at Monaco, he’s having his most productive season since joining City for £30 million, having failed to fit in at the King Power Stadium, and having struggled in loan spells at Newcastle and Fenerbahce.
With eight goals and seven assists in Ligue 1, there are likely to be suitors for the Algerian, even if Monaco do not enact the buy clause in his loan contract.
Another misfit who never truly caught up with the pace of the Premier League, Silva also looks good for a permanent switch to Monaco, having won over new manager Robert Moreno to take the captain’s armband.
However, unlike Slimani, there is no buy clause in the Portuguese’s loan contract, so it may be a trickier transfer to sort.
But if Monaco turn their attention elsewhere, with only a year left to run on his City contract, Silva is quite likely to be picked up, with former club Sporting regularly linked.