Before contract negotiations begin, Enzo Maresca wants Leicester City to concentrate entirely on their pursuit of promotion over the next month or two.
Enzo Maresca has stated that the talks over the fate of the six Leicester City players whose contracts are up this summer can wait until the Foxes have made their league status official before the upcoming campaign begins. With one third of the Championship season remaining, City is currently 12 points ahead of third place and looks certain to surpass 100 points, a sum that would almost guarantee both promotion and the league title.
Many first-team players currently on the roster will, as of right now, be without contracts after the current campaign ends. The list is headed by 180-goal Leicester striker Jamie Vardy, who is joined by long-serving teammates Marc Albrighton, Wilfred Ndidi, and Kelechi Iheanacho. Another player whose contract is up for renewal is midfielder Dennis Praet. Maresca has given Jannik Vestergaard, whose career at King Power Stadium, a real boost this season.
With those deals now entering into their final few months, the futures of those six players are slowly beginning to come under the spotlight; who may remain beyond this campaign? Who is worth offering fresh terms to? There is plenty to be weighed up – not least of all which division the Foxes will be competing in next season, although they have a huge opportunity in the next month or so to confirm their immediate return to the Premier League.
Then, and only then, will Leicester and Maresca sit down and consider how they proceed with each of Vardy, Iheanacho, Albrighton, Ndidi, Praet and Vestergaard – but he hopes for the club to have restored their top flight status by the time they sit down to negotiate with any personnel they’re interested in retaining the services of.
