Ben Foster explains Leicester generosity problem that leads to transfer issue

City have been relegated to League One with one of, if not the highest wage bill in the Championship this season.

While wage expenditure is usually a good barometer of where a team should finish, City have underperformed against theirs in recent years.

In 22-23, they were relegated out of the Premier League with the eighth-biggest wage bill in the division, while in 24-25, their wage spending ranked 15th, and yet they were relegated again.

This season has been the biggest underperformance though and Foster, a friend of former City captain Kasper Schmeichel, feels that the club have been too generous in their contract negotiations with players who have received more than they’re worth.

He also suggested that City may struggle to offload players in League One without paying them to leave. Albeit, City do have relegation clauses in contracts that will bring their wage expenditure down.

“Paying players too high wages that are not worthy or deserving of those wages, I think money softens players,” Foster told LeicestershireLive. “If you give them too long a contract or too much money, they can take their eye off the ball or take their foot off the gas.

“The players don’t seem to be good enough. But I still think they probably had the highest wage bill in the Championship.

“Paying players too much money and expecting them to play 46 games of real high-intensity football in the Championship is a recipe for disaster.

“I know there’s one or two that are out of contract but there’s a couple that are still going to be on these wages in League One. You’re not going to get rid of them because there’s no team in the world that’s going to want to take those wages on.

“Players would have to take a massive pay cut to go somewhere. Those players will say to Leicester: ‘I’m not moving anywhere unless you pay me.’ It’s a real tough position.”

Patson Daka and Jordan Ayew are among the players expected to be released when City’s retained list is published. The deadline for submitting retained lists to the EFL was last Saturday and so an announcement should not be far away.

Ben Foster has teamed up with Kellogg's, and other EFL players to offer more than 39,000 free Kellogg's Football Camp places in partnership with the EFL, Manchester City, Celtic FC and Rangers FC. Places available via the QR code on selected packs or at www.kelloggsfc.com . T&Cs apply.

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