Leicester City Football Club, newly promoted to the Premier League after topping the Championship last season, are facing a major challenge to their survival hopes due to the looming threat of two separate points deductions.
The Premier League has charged Leicester with breaching Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) and failing to submit audited financial accounts for the 2022-23 season. These charges have been referred to an independent commission.
The club's financial woes are substantial, with reported losses of £89.7 million for the 2022-23 season alone, bringing their total losses over the last three Premier League campaigns to over £215 million.
This financial instability has led to the Premier League pushing for two separate penalties against the Foxes.
Leicester's situation is further complicated by their recent managerial changes. After securing promotion under Enzo Maresca, who has since left for Chelsea, Steve Cooper has taken over as manager.
Cooper's preparations for the new season have been hampered not only by the potential points deductions but also by injuries to key players like Patson Daka and Jamie Vardy, and the summer exit of Kelechi Iheanacho.
The Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules limit teams to £105 million in losses across three seasons. Failure to comply can result in severe punishments, including points deductions.
Last season, Everton faced similar penalties for offences in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 accounting periods, initially receiving a 10-point deduction, which was later reduced to six on appeal, along with a separate two-point penalty.
Despite these challenges, Leicester has made some strategic moves in the transfer market, acquiring players like Abdul Fatawu, Caleb Okoli, Michael Golding, Bobby Decordova-Reid, and loanee Facundo Buonanotte.
However, their quieter activity compared to fellow promoted sides Southampton and Ipswich raises questions about their ability to compete effectively in the Premier League.
As Leicester prepares to face Tottenham in their Premier League opener on Monday night, the team will be light on attack due to the aforementioned injuries.
Manager Steve Cooper acknowledged the difficulties, stating, "Patson [Daka] obviously is not great news. He suffered quite a serious ankle injury last week in the game in Lens and he is going to be out for a good few months. He’s having an operation today (Friday). That’s really unfortunate for him because he was looking good in pre-season.
Vards, similarly, he’s been injured since the second week of pre-season now, when we were on one of our pre-season camps. He’s closer to returning but it will be a little while, although he’s itching to get back. But it’s not great at that end of the pitch."
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