Leicester City Manager Russell Martin Prepares for Squad Changes
Leicester City manager Russell Martin says the club must brace itself for more exits as he continues to reshape a squad suddenly living in League One reality.
The new Foxes boss left Belgian defender Wout Faes and winger Stephy Mavididi out of the matchday group for Saturday’s season-opening draw at Notts County, a decision that felt louder than any official transfer update. Both had featured through pre-season, Mavididi even starting the EFL Cup win over Northampton a week earlier. Then, on the first day of the league campaign, they were nowhere to be seen.
The message was clear: Leicester are planning for a future that might not include either of them once the window closes.
“We’re navigating and managing change in the best way,” Martin told BBC Radio Leicester, outlining a delicate balancing act between competitiveness and financial reality. “They’ve been really respectful, I think we’re treating them with respect.
“Whilst they’re here, they train, they’re involved. We just feel that for us, we have to be prepared to be without them.
“And if they stay, no problem, we’d be really happy with both being here, but with the level of interest that we have.
“We’ve turned down bids for both, but that’s ongoing, so we’ll see, but I’m not sure any will go soon.”
So Leicester wait. Bids on the table, interest high, no immediate resolution. Martin must build a team with two feet in the present and an eye constantly on the door.
On the pitch, his side came within nine minutes of opening their League One campaign with a statement win at Meadow Lane, only to be pegged back by an 81st-minute equaliser. What should have been a calm closing spell turned jittery, and Martin did not hide from the reason.
He pinned the late setback on anxiety and “tension” within a young dressing room still learning how to manage games.
“I think that’s the biggest learning for us,” he said. “If we don’t look after each other with the ball like we didn’t in the last 20 minutes, the game becomes like that and it doesn’t suit us.
“It’s the only frustration and it’s because we have a couple of moments that make us anxious and we don’t play with anywhere near enough intensity and detail with the ball in our half and it keeps coming back.”
The pattern was familiar to anyone who has watched youthful sides try to close out tight games: passes rushed, decisions hurried, control slipping away one clearance at a time. The equaliser felt inevitable once Leicester stopped trusting their own plan.
Yet Martin refused to let that late sting drown out the positives. He talked of “a lot to like” in the display, and there were glimpses of what he wants this team to become, not least in the cameo of forward Admir Bristric, who came off the bench for his debut.
“I’m really happy with the group we have, genuinely,” he said. “They’re really young, you saw that at the end. With Admir, the front three was really young.”
That youth brings energy, fearlessness and a willingness to run. It also brings exactly the kind of tension that surfaced in those final 20 minutes. Martin knows it, and he hinted at the missing piece.
“So we could probably (do with) a couple of guys that have been there and done it to help us manage a game in that way, so we’ll see, but there’s nothing imminent in the next day or two.”
Experience out, experience wanted. Faes and Mavididi sit on the fringes as interest swirls, while Martin scans the market for the hardened professionals who can guide this group through the grind of League One.
Leicester’s rebuild is already under way. The question now is how many more pieces move before the window slams shut – and whether this young side can learn to hold its nerve while the ground keeps shifting beneath it.
