Russell Martin makes Leicester City transfer embargo admission after overhaul

Russell Martin says Leicester City's two-week transfer embargo in the summer didn't impact the club's recruitment plans after they signed 16 players.

City were subject to a transfer embargo for a fortnight in the summer due to the EFL's Salary Cost Management Protocol (SCMP). An independent Club Financial Review Panel reportedly ruled that future Premier League distributions could not be included in City's SCMP calculation to increase its spending capacity.

LeicestershireLive understands that the embargo was only for two weeks, rather than five, and did not affect Leicester's summer transfer plans, with the club remaining below the SCMP limit for this season. It's understood that the timing of the embargo only altered the order of transfers that were completed in a summer of change at the King Power Stadium.

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On Friday, Martin met with reporters ahead of the clash against Luton Town and was asked about challenges the embargo placed on him when building his squad. "It was just another challenge we had to overcome," he said.

"It made things a little bit more difficult at the time, but I think everyone here managed it as well as we possibly could, really open and transparent. Ultimately, we ended up with a squad that we're really, really happy with.

"It probably delayed a bit of business, so in an ideal world it wouldn't have happened and we'd have had everyone in a bit earlier, but it is what it is, it happened. We got through it really well and we moved forward."

He added when asked if the club missed out on potential targets due to the embargo: "Not really, I don't think. Like I said, everyone we ended up with was pretty much the first target in that position.

"It's easy for me to say that to you guys now, but I was really grateful to quite a few of the lads waiting. Even Wes [Burns] leaving Ipswich after that, we discussed that a long while before it happened. So I was really grateful to them and I think it shows their commitment to us as well, that they were willing to do that.

"I see it even more positively that they were willing to do that, but we ended up going to Spain with only two players at that point, and ideally you'd go away with a lot more. But, like I said, it was something that we had to deal with, and I think the club dealt with it in and amongst a lot of changes and everything else really."

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