ZestVlog

Some things needed to change and it has indeed been a huge summer of transformation at Leicester City.

It is just over two months since a shocking relegation back to the Championship was confirmed, but the Leicester side who begin their bid for an instant return to the Premier League on Sunday will look very different to the one that slipped out of it on May 28.

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There will also be a completely new look on the touchline, too, with incoming manager Enzo Maresca wielding a broom that has swept through the backroom staff. Five coaches have gone since their in-vain 2-1 final day win over West Ham United, including long-serving stalwarts Mike Stowell and Adam Sadler, and five have come in with Maresca, a coach who has shown he is not hanging around in taking his second chance at management after a short-lived stint at Parma in Italy’s second tier two years ago.

Ten players have departed post-relegation — and counting. Five recruits have been added to the squad so far and more are expected over the final month of the summer transfer window, which promises to be extremely busy.

Fresh eyes have also brought a completely new outlook as well.

Maresca is installing a brand of football none of his players have experienced before. Honed over two years as a coach under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, it is a bold approach that has excited the squad even though they are still trying to embrace all its nuances.

There is the general belief among the group that if it works and if they can get all the details right, it is a style that can take off.

But then, these are the ‘ifs’. Only time will tell if it will prove successful – and it is going to take Leicester time, both on the pitch and in the recruitment department.

It has not been a traditional pre-season in many ways.

Leicester did not expect or plan for relegation, which came under the interim management of Dean Smith, and they weren’t able to get Maresca in as their next permanent boss until June 16 — only two weeks before the players were due to return to start pre-season training. They are kicking off their 2023-24 campaign a week earlier than anticipated, with the Premier League not getting going until next weekend.

The players have had just five weeks of preparation. There has been no overseas training camp, the places where most of the initial work for a new season is done. Instead, the players used the club’s Seagrave complex for the same purpose, staying in the training ground’s on-site hotel for the first week under Maresca, away from friends and family.

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There also hasn’t been the usual schedule of friendlies away at lower-league sides, building towards a final home friendly against an overseas foe.

Instead, there were two behind-closed-door friendlies against Peterborough United of League One and Belgian top-flight club OH Leuven, and one away day at another third-tier side, Northampton Town, where Leicester fans keen to see what Maresca’s Leicester will look like packed out three sides of the ground.

But that match on July 15 was their only chance to get a first-hand look until the club hosted an open training session at the King Power Stadium home on Wednesday.

There was a week-long trip to Thailand, the home of the club’s owners and their King Power business empire, only for a planned friendly against Tottenham Hotspur in Bangkok to be washed out — traditionally, July is the start of the rainy season in Thailand. The players did get a runout three days later against Thai top-flight side Port FC.

Leicester concluded the Far Eastern tour, and their pre-season fixtures, on Sunday with a 4-0 defeat by Liverpool in Singapore, although the performance did offer hope in an opening 30-minute spell. The early glimpse of Maresca-ball left many wondering which of the two sides was the Premier League team — but then came an all too familiar defensive collapse, with Liverpool scoring three goals in eight minutes before half-time.

That wasn’t the only reminder of previous failings: Liverpool’s other goal came from a set piece and there has also been a reminder of the plague of Leicester injuries that have blighted the last few seasons.

Striker Jamie Vardy, who has been captain whenever he has played in these warm-up games, did not feature in Thailand as a precaution but is expected to be OK for the weekend’s opener at home to Coventry City — who got to last season’s Championship play-off final before losing on penalties to Luton Town. Defender Wout Faes has also been nursing an unspecified issue. Both trained at the King Power this week.

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Leicester will go into the season without key new signing Conor Coady.

Coady is meant to be the lynchpin of a back four that becomes a back three when they are in possession, with full-back Ricardo Pereira stepping forward into midfield alongside Harry Winks, another newcomer.

In the two previous pre-seasons, Leicester suffered the blow of losing a player integral to their plans to injury in the final throes. First, there was Wesley Fofana’s broken leg, then last summer saw a ruptured Achilles tendon for Pereira.

The club have not given details of what is currently wrong with Coady, but Maresca has stated he fears it could be “not good”. It is, however, believed Coady is unlikely to be out for long beyond the first game.

So, who will replace the former England international in the early stages of the season?

Maresca certainly has options: Harry Souttar knows the Championship from his 61 appearances in it for previous club Stoke City over the past three years. Callum Doyle — another new signing, on loan from Manchester City — could move in from his natural left side, and his fellow 19-year-old Ben Nelson, who is great on the ball, featured a lot in pre-season. Nelson seems perfect for Maresca’s progressive passing style.

It seems likely Jannik Vestergaard, a 35-cap Denmark international completely frozen out under the previous regime of Brendan Rodgers and who Leicester have attempted to move on in the previous two windows, will start the season in the crucial role.

It also seems likely that, by the end of the month, Vestergaard will not be a Leicester player.

Although he has rejected moves away in the past, for differing reasons, he seems determined to leave this time. He has even said in an interview in his homeland — a previous tactic that led to his exile from the squad under Rodgers in March — that he is targeting a move back to one of the big five leagues of Europe (the 31-year-old has played over 260 games combined in the Premier League and German Bundesliga) and that he has good options in terms of his next club.

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And Vestergaard isn’t the only squad member with one eye on a transfer.

With a lack of options in attacking midfield following the departures of Youri Tielemans, James Maddison, Harvey Barnes and Ayoze Perez since the end of last season, Belgium internationals Dennis Praet and Timothy Castagne have been operating off the right and at inside right respectively in pre-season, yet both are expected to move on before the September 1 deadline.

There is no questioning the professionalism of any of the trio, there is personal pride at stake, but at a time when Maresca is working to imprint his tactical plan on Leicester’s players, it is hardly ideal that three of his 10 opening-game starters may not be around a month later.

And what of the roles for players such as James Justin, considered the best individual defender at the club under Rodgers until his spate of injuries in the last couple of years? Likewise Patson Daka, Victor Kristiansen and Kelechi Iheanacho. The latter could also move on before the end of the month, with several clubs weighing him up as an option.

Things at Leicester may not settle down until the transfer window closes.

The club are still working on targets, most notably on the wing, even after the arrival of Stephy Mavididi from Montpellier of France’s Ligue 1. Expect the loans market to be utilised: Crystal Palace’s England Under-20 winger Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, 20, is one option here, with Chelsea and Italy Under-21s midfielder Cesare Casadei, also 20, another.

GO DEEPER

Stephy Mavididi: Schooled at Arsenal and Juventus, rated by Henry and ready to fire Leicester

After the shock and anger of relegation, Leicester fans used to seeing their team chasing European qualification and trophies in recent seasons will want to see an instant reaction in the Championship. But patience is now required, especially as there could still be a hangover from last season — with the confidence of some players still fragile.

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There is still a lot to be done on and off the pitch to get Leicester into shape for a promotion push, despite their pre-season tag of title favourites from many. Their 2023-24 side is still very much a work in progress.

It has already been a tumultuous summer — in stark contrast to a year ago when only a couple of transfer deals were done, despite the squad having become stagnant. That was a major factor in what subsequently transpired to lead to this position.

And the summer isn’t over yet.

(Top photo: Yong Teck Lim/Getty Images)

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