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23rd in Championship
Premier League champions to League One in 10 years? The demise of Leicester City
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Rewind the clocks 10 years, and football fans are about to witness the greatest miracle in Premier League history, as 5000/1 long shots Leicester City close in on the unthinkable. Claudio Ranieri’s team were among the favourites to get relegated at the start of the 2015/16 season, but nine months on they clinched the title. Legends were born, as the likes of Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and N’golo Kante captured the eyes and admiration of the watching world.
At that stage, with elation and disbelief still saturating the air at the King Power stadium, few could have predicted that a decade on, the club would be staring down the barrel of being relegated to the third tier of English football. The Foxes were relegated from the Premier League again last season after only one term back in the top flight, but were one of the favourites to bounce straight back. Nevertheless, with just five games to go of the 2025/26 campaign, and after a six-point deduction for breaching financial rules, Leicester are 23rd in the Championship. They are five points adrift of safety.
So how has a club that shocked world football and had one of the best recruitment policies turned this sour in such a short amount of time? Here at Transfermarkt, we have crunched the numbers to take you through the journey and the fall of Leicester in the last 10 years. From chaotic decisions in the boardroom, to dismal signings, to every one pulling in different directions, this is how the 2016 Premier League champions found themselves close to joining League One in 2026.
Cutting Claudio Ranieri's time short & a reality check
Considering what Ranieri achieved with Leicester, many felt that he should only ever leave the club on his own terms, but the Italian became a victim of his own success. Just nine months after lifting the Premier League trophy, he was sacked. The Foxes were never expected to retain the title, but they found themselves flirting with relegation, which sparked the club's hierarchy to act, and replace Ranieri with his former assistant Craig Shakespeare. The first of many bad decisions.
Staff
C. Ranieri
Age: 74
Leicester City
81
36
21
24
Leicester survived relegation and finished 12th, which arguably somewhat vindicated the decision to get rid of Ranieri. But they would have probably stayed up even with Ranieri and losing such a special manager, who had provided the best moments in the club history, left a sour taste. Frenchman Claude Puel took over from Shakespeare shortly after, but spent most of his two-year-tenure around mid table obscurity before being relieved of his duties in 2019. It must also be remembered however that the club suffered the tragic loss of chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha in a helicopter crash in 2018, which will have no doubt had a huge effect.
Staff
B. Rodgers
Age: 53
Leicester City
204
96
37
71
The Brendan Rodgers years & an FA Cup
The one managerial appointment post-Ranieri that can be looked back upon as a success is that of Brendan Rodgers in 2019. The Northern Irishman led the Foxes to back-to-back fifth place finishes in the Premier League and won the FA Cup in 2021, beating Chelsea 1-0 in the final. As illustrated in the graphic below, he had the second highest points-per-game record (1.59) of all Leicester managers post-Ranieri and the highest among those who managed them whilst they were in the Premier League.
Once again, Rodgers' sacking seemed somewhat harsh. There were definitely large sections of the support calling for his head and Leicester were in a relegation battle. However, the dismissal of Rodgers and appointment of Dean Smith ultimately led Leicester to the Championship. Enzo Maresca came in and took them straight back up, but Leicester’s return to the Premier League was then a shambles, as was the numerous managers they have churned through since Maresca left for Chelsea. But it’s not just bad managerial appointments that have led to the Foxes demise.
Fan unrest & recruitment chaos
Leicester's two all-time club record signings were actually a success. Youri Tielemans came in for €45 million from Monaco and was a great servant for the club, scoring the winning goal in the FA Cup final, but he was allowed to run his contract down and eventually leave to Aston Villa on a free transfer – another poor move from the club. Meanwhile, Wesley Fofana was signed from St Etienne for €35m and then sold on to Chelsea for €80.4m just two years later. However, if we look at Leicester’s 10 most expensive signings since the 2021/22 season – when the real problems began emerging – it’s hard to find an outright success.
Firstly, it's worth noting that in comparison to other Premier League clubs spending during this period, these fees aren't that high, but what Leicester have spent hasn't worked out. Patson Daka’s €30m move from RB Salzburg in 2021 never quite worked out, but despite never delivering the consistent goals his potential promised, he remains at the club five years on. If you look through that top 10, there is other obvious wasted money, such as €24m on Oliver Skipp or €18m on a 29-year-old Jannik Vestergaard. Abdul Fatawu for €16m is probably the best value for money signing – he is likely to leave the club this summer.
Leicester's heroic story of 2016 will forever be etched into the folklore of English football history. It is hard to argue against it being the greatest miracle the Premier League has ever seen. The fact that the club are now on the verge of League One exactly 10 years on is testament to what can happen from repeated bad decisions by a club. If recruitment is poor, manager appointments are scatty and everyone isn't on the same track, then a club won't just stand still – they will accelerate backwards.
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