Leicester City given ‘fire-sale’ warning as football finance expert piles pressure on Khun Top

Leicester City have been relegated to League One and have been told they have to sell players in the summer

Leicester City must hold a ‘fire-sale’ of players from their first team squad following relegation to League One.

That’s according to football finance expert Kieran Maguire who has highlighted the consequences of the Foxes ’ demotion to the third tier of English football.

Maguire, who hosts the Price of Football podcast, estimates the average wage bill in League One to be around £9million and claims that City’s last season was £150m.

With television revenues far lower in League One than the Championship – never mind the Premier League – Maguire believes owners King Power International, led by Aiyawatt ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprabha, will have to make up the shortfall.

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He told talkSPORT : “I don’t think they’ve got a lot of money coming in, so realistically it’s going to have to be a fire-sale, and the other thing is that the owner is going to have to dig the club out…It really does now come down to the level of commitment from the owner, which has been missing in recent years.”

Maguire says Leicester can’t rip up player contracts just because they have been relegated twice and continued: “You say the players will walk away, well the average wage at Leicester last season was £67,000 a week and if they’ve got a contract, which has another two or three years remaining, they can say to Leicester ‘You either pay us up or we stick around’ because the players’ first responsibilities are towards their families not the club owner.”

As regards his commitment to City Srivaddhanaprabha told Sky Sports in January: “One hundred per cent I commit to support the club and I do it even now.”

Speaking on Tuesday evening, after relegation had been confirmed by the draw with Hull City, he was doorstepped by fans and said: “I did stay here 15 years and I put in a lot of money.” When asked if that will continue, he replied: “I will try.”

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