Leicester City finished 5th in 2020/2021 Season on 66 points.
Despite winning the FA Cup against Chelsea and performing exceptionally well throughout the season, that bitter taste of no Champions League football again for Leicester will loom over the players, staff and fans alike. No other team remained within the top four for a longer period of time then Leicester last season, but when it came to the last hurdle, they stumbled and allowed Chelsea and a resurgent Liverpool to claim the respective spots. There's no doubt that Brendan Rodgers has established this Leicester side as a top Premier League club. However, their ability to get over the line is still under scrutiny and with this season being eerily similar to the last, many questions will be thrown at Rodgers' and his side. Leicester are definitely improving year on year in terms of points gained but without any reward at the end of a 38 game season, there will have been no major progress evident for all to see. In Leicester's defense, to break into the top 4 is a very daunting task and out of every team in the top half, especially including Arsenal and Tottenham, they are the only serious outsiders who look most likely to breach the top four's dominance. It won't necessarily be a crisis or a managerial assessment for Leicester if they fail to get Champions League qualification again this year, with the club seemingly happy with Rodgers at the helm. The main concern will be if Leicester are capable of competing with Europe's elite if they were to qualify. Leicester's performances in the Europa League last season was underwhelming, crashing out to Slavia Prague 2-0 across two legs. The club obviously target Champions League qualification for financial reasons and for growing the stature of the club, but maybe Leicester are not ready to compete in Europe's prized competition. If the Europa League is a struggle then maybe Rodger's himself feels as of the club needs more time to assert themselves within that category of European hierarchy. The assessment of Leicester here has been quite harsh as there's no doubt their rise since winning the league in 2016 has been monumental. This club has gone from the brink of relegation, to winning the Premier League and now acting as the frontrunners to disrupt the norm of the top four in the division. An incredible journey that, as a neutral, will hopefully only get better for Rodger's admirable side. Leicester as usual have had a sturdy transfer window, bringing in Patson Daka from RB Salzburg to give some healthy competition to Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho. Ligue 1 winner with Lille Boubakary Soumare has also arrived with an expectation on his shoulders given the performances he displayed in midfield for his title-winning side last season. Ryan Bertrand and Jannik Vestergaard have also been signed, with the latter being an emergency replacement for the unfortunate injury to Wesley Fofana, who will be a big miss to the his side for the 3-4 months he is absent. Given the strength of the league's top four, especially this year with City, Chelsea and United's striking transfer business, the challenge for Leicester will all the more difficult but the Foxes, as always, can be optimistic with their sides chances. As we know, you should never write Leicester City off.
MAJOR TRANSFERS- (subject to change).
IN- Patson Daka- (RB Salzburg, £23 million).
Boubakary Soumare- (Lille, £17 million).
Ryan Bertrand- (Southampton, free).
Jannik Vestergaard- (Southampton, £15 million).
OUT- Christian Fuchs- (Charlotte, free).
Wes Morgan- (retired).
Rachid Ghezzal- (Besiktas, undisclosed fee).
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