Whereas Leicester had stormed to Premier League promotion in 2022-23 with the biggest budget in Championship history, it was obvious even before the start of the current campaign that money had become a major cause for concern at the King Power Stadium.
Indeed, Van Nistelrooy didn’t officially ‘part company’ with the club until June 27 so that the cost of his dismissal could be deferred to the following year’s accounts in a blatant bid to ease some of the club’s Profit & Sustainability Regulations (PSR) concerns.
However, the damage had already been done in that regard and, on February 5 of this year, Leicester were hit with a six-point penalty for breaching PSR rules during their Championship-winning 2023-24 season, prompting even further criticism of chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha and director of football Jon Rudkin over the way in which they were running the club.
The Foxes nonetheless expressed their “disappointment” with the ruling, and labelled the punishment “disproportionate”, but their appeal was dismissed on April 8 – which represented a hammer blow to their survival hopes.
Without the penalty, the Foxes would be just two points below 21st-placed Blackburn Rovers and West Bromwich Albion, and with a game in hand over the former. However, few would have been backing Leicester to beat the drop anyway, as this is a team that Srivaddhanaprabha and Rudkin have saddled with highly-paid, underperforming players.
