Jon Rudkin’s £30m Leicester City howler highlighted as football finance expert offers worrying verdict

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Relegation from the Premier League is not the only glaring problem staring Leicester City in the face.

Leicester City are currently on a run of 10 defeats in their last 11 Premier League matches, seeing them drop down to 19th and five points away from safety.

That is unlikely to change anytime soon with the Foxes predicted to lose to West Ham United in their next league outing on Thursday evening.

A horrible run of fixtures then awaits Ruud van Nistelrooy and co. as we enter March and in turn, relegation seems to be already confirmed.

Aside from suffering a swift return to the Championship, however, Leicester have financial problems that have already landed them in hot water on a couple of occasions recently.

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Leicester City’s £30m mistake outlined by financial expert

In 2024, Leicester were charged by the Premier League for a breach of their spending rules in the three-year period leading up the the 2022/23 season.

They escaped that punishment but there was then speculation that the Foxes were in danger of suffering a points deduction this campaign ahead of their 2023/24 accounts being released.

Again, they managed to avoid any punishment but PSR problems still remain. And now, football finance expert Kieran Maguire, as per The Athletic, has shed some light on the club’s poor financial decisions of late, including budgeting to finish eighth or ninth when they were relegated.

On Leicester’s wage bill rising to 116 percent, he said: “Part of the reason was, to avoid a points deduction, they extended their financial year to June 30. So the figure is slightly more alarming than it should be, but they had to do that or they would have been in breach of the PSR rules.

“They budgeted to finish eighth or ninth, and actually finished 18th, and every additional place in the table is worth £3m in prize money so they were £30m worse off.

“It looks like they haven’t been great at negotiating contracts. Many players have a relatively low basic salary but they are heavily incentivised, but it is difficult to see how Leicester’s pricing structure in terms of wages operated.

“That probably went against the club because when things didn’t work out, they were on the hook because, in fact, their wage bill was £24m higher in 2023 than it had been in 2022. That suggests maybe the club hadn’t thought things through and after their successful years, players were being offered contracts on the assumption that relegation wasn’t really possible.”

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Leicester City transfer flops

Leicester fans want Jon Rudkin out and who can blame them given the state their club is in right now.

The threat of a points deduction next season still looms and when they are relegated, it’s hard to see how they can afford a proper rebuild.

The last few years alone showcase just how bad Rudkin and co. have been at spending money with some major flops signed for big fees.

If Leicester are to turn things around and re-establish themselves as a Premier League club, it’s clear Rudkin will have to be replaced.