Leicester City: Gary Rowett must seal survival - Sunderland will lick their lips | OneFootball

Leicester need to trim its wage bill this summer and sell some assets, but it'll stand to lose out in League One

Financially, Leicester City needs to balance its books this summer, especially given that an immediate Premier League return is off the cards and relegation instead feels much more likely.

Their 2024/25 accounts read that the club posted a £71 million loss over the year, and, while this won't be in any danger of breaching Profit and Sustainability Rules once again, some saleable assets may still be tipped to be leaving the King Power Stadium this coming summer.

One of whom looks to be Abdul Fatawu, who was the subject of plenty of transfer talk last summer ahead of Leicester's return to the Championship. This season, the 22-year-old has netted nine times in 38 games and has been a bright spark in an otherwise dismal year.

Sunderland are the side set to reignite their interest in Fatawu, with Football Insider reporting that the Foxes are set to listen to offers around the £20 million mark, £10 million less than his release clause in his current deal.

So, while not as much as Leicester would have ideally wanted to rake in for the talented wideman, it would still be a good sale, and it would resemble a profit on the £14.75 million they spent on him after they were promoted to the Premier League in 2024.

However, all that will depend on which division Leicester finds themselves in the 2026/27 campaign.

Potential League One status would guarantee Leicester City a cut fee for Abdul Fatawu

Currently, Leicester are in the Championship relegation zone due to the six-point deduction they incurred for breaching EFL financial rules. Survival is still within reach, but even the most pessimistic Foxes fans didn't foresee them being a point removed from safety going into the final month of the campaign this season.

A relegation to League One would be disastrous for Gary Rowett's side. Not only would it highlight the massive downfall of the club one decade on from their Premier League title win, but it would also mean that they'll be in for a more difficult transfer window than expected.

It's often a phrase that gets thrown about that certain players are 'too good to go down,' but in Fatawu's case, that rings true. He'll likely be out of the door this summer anyway, but it would be easier to recoup a decent fee for him as a Championship club.

When observing the record sales in the third tier, almost nobody gets sold for eight-figure fees. Mark McGuiness is the only person who comes close, arriving at Sheffield United from Luton Town this past summer. But even then, reports from the Sheffield Star have stated that the Blades spent "substantially less" than £10 million to secure his services.

When Sunderland went down to the third tier in 2018, Whabi Khazri, an established Tunisian international with numerous high-scoring seasons in Ligue 1, was only sold for £6 million.

So, there's no real bargaining chip when you're a League One club, and if Leicester want to sell Fatawu for anything close to £20 million, they'll need to ensure that they remain in the Championship first.

Leicester City could make a loss on numerous player sales if League One becomes a reality

This ultimately doesn't just relate to Fatawu either, as there'd be plenty of other players in the Leicester squad currently who would see themselves as better than League One and look to force a move away this summer if relegation does happen.

While the Foxes would still have the financial power to dominate League One, you'd expect, and you'd also trust that those at the top of the club will have learned from their past and operate in a way that keeps the club from breaching laws, it would still be a missed opportunity to maximise the amount of money they could make from player sales this summer.

Numerous players at the King Power Stadium could be sold on for £10 million +, but if the club does fall into the third tier, then their market value would drop drastically, and clubs in the top flight or even in the Championship would look to exploit their lesser status and raid Leicester on the cheap.

So, not only would Leicester stand to lose out on £20 million for Fatawu, but the likes of Oliver Skipp, Caleb Okoli, Ricardo Pereira, and even bright young star Jeremy Monga, just to name a few, could all leave for much less than their market value currently.

Leicester needs to stay in the Championship. Not only to ensure that they can rest and refresh in a higher division, but also so they can put themselves in a better position financially ahead of the new campaign.