£90k-a-week Leicester City ace in 'advanced talks' over exit | OneFootball

The Foxes are set to wave goodbye to Harry Winks this summer.

As Leicester City prepare for life in League One, the Foxes are expected to be very busy on the transfer front.

As comes with a shock relegation from the Championship, many first-team players are set to walk away from the King Power Stadium and take on new challenges, leaving boss Russell Martin to pick up the pieces and try build a squad good enough to return to the second tier at the first time of asking.

The East Midlands outfit have already waved goodbye to 11 senior players at the conclusion of the 2025-26 campaign, with Ricardo Pereira, Patson Daka, Jordan Ayew, Jamaal Lascelles and academy graduate Wanya Marçal all departing on the expiration of their contracts, while Bilal El Khannouss completed permanent move to VfB Stuttgart at the end of May.

In addition, the loan spells of Jordan James, Aaron Ramsey, Joe Aribo, Dujuan Richards and Divine Mukasa have all ended too, and will see the players return to their parent clubs.

As the summer transfer window continues to progress, the Foxes are close to sealing another permanent exit away for a high earner at the club, with Martin and Leicester hopeful that freeing up the wage budget can see the Foxes have more financial freedom to build a League One title-winning side.

Leicester City set to sanction Harry Winks exit

As per a report by Italian journalist Alfredo Pedulla, Leicester City are set to sanction an exit for midfielder Harry Winks, who is in advanced talks over a return to Italy with Cagliari.

The ex-Tottenham Hotspur man had a loan spell in Italy with Sampdoria during the 2022-23 season, before making his switch to Leicester, and it seems like he is keen on relocating back there to play in the Italian top-flight.

While no agreement is yet in place, it is believed that it will be struck up fairly quickly, with Cagliari and Leicester in discussions over a fee, while Cagliari and Winks’ entourage are holding talks over an agreement on wages.

Leicester City, Harry Winks exit suits all parties

It makes sense for the Foxes to call time on Harry Winks’ stint at the King Power Stadium, with the midfielder’s contract running down in 2027, while, according to Capology, he is the club’s highest earning player on £90,000 a week.

Leicester simply can’t afford to be paying those types of salaries when in League One, so there’s no surprise to see Leicester moving quickly to get him off the books.

Not to mention he also had a fierce spat with supporters when boarding the team bus following their 1-0 defeat away at Portsmouth last season, so after damaging the connection with the fanbase, it seemed almost a matter of time before he departed the club.

For Leicester, freeing up such a significant amount in wages will allow them to really get the ball rolling in terms of arrivals, with the club needing to give Russell Martin the tools to succeed immediately and get the club back into the Championship at the first time of asking.

A high-profile exit of Winks so early into the transfer window gives Leicester the perfect amount of time to use the spare funds wisely, and this could be so important when it comes to helping achieve their aim of being at the summit come next year.