Exclusive: Leicester City sent clear warning after Leeds United agreement | OneFootball

Lee Hendrie has given his verdict on James Justin leaving Leicester City to join Premier League side Leeds United.

James Justin has left Leicester City to join Premier League outfit Leeds United after over six years with the Foxes.

Following relegation from the Premier League, Leicester have undergone somewhat of a mass exodus, with eight players having left so far.

Club stalwarts such as Jamie Vardy, Danny Ward and Wilfried Ndidi have gone to new pastures, whilst talented youngsters such as Mads Hermansen and Kasey McAteer have also both left the club for multi-million-pound fees.

Among those departures is full-back James Justin, who has secured an immediate return to the Premier League with a £10 million move to Leeds United.

Justin, 27, joined the Foxes in the summer of 2019 from Luton Town for a fee of around £8 million after impressing for the Hatters in League One, providing competition for Ben Chilwell at left-back and Ricardo Pereira at right-back.

In his six years with the club, Justin made 169 appearances, scoring 11 times and assisting a further ten across all competitions, earning himself an England cap and establishing himself as a Premier League level player in the process.

Lee Hendrie provides his verdict on Leicester City's loss of James Justin

Speaking exclusively to Football League World about Leicester's sale of Justin, Sky pundit Lee Hendrie has given his verdict on whether the Foxes will miss his experience and nous.

"He's a really good signing for Leeds, a really solid addition to them and Leicester will miss him for sure," said Hendrie.

"I just think with his experience alone, when you lose key players at this stage of the season, you just do wonder how Leicester are going to go this season, particularly when some real big players are going out of the door, and James Justin being one of them.

"I think this will be a real big loss for Leicester, I really do. I know that they do have a few good young players that can certainly come in, but the experience alone of Championship football is important.

"I think this will be a good signing for Leeds and a real disappointment [for Leicester] that they've lost a real big key member to their squad."

James Justin's exit leaves a glaring hole in the Leicester City defence

Leicester have started life under new boss Marti Cifunetes indifferently.

Having laboured to a 2-1 home win over crisis club Sheffield Wednesday in their opening game, the Foxes were knocked out of the League Cup by Huddersfield Town and lost away to Preston North End, but defeated newly-promoted Charlton Athletic 1-0 in their most recent outing.

Justin started at right-back in matches against Wednesday and Preston, but was left out of the squad for their victory over Charlton, with midfielder Hamza Choudhury deputising at right-back.

Following Justin's departure, this leaves 31-year-old Ricardo Pereira as the club's only right-back. Pereira has struggled with persistent injuries throughout his Leicester career, having made more than 30 league appearances just twice since joining in the summer of 2018.

With just days left of the window remaining and 38-year-old backup goalkeeper Asmir Begovic being the club's only signing, the Leicester squad appears to be depleted, and the loss of the experienced Justin doesn't help their case.