Leicester City manager Enzo Maresca has dropped a hint on when he can expect to enter negotiations with the six players who are out of contract in the summer.
Leicester City are cruising to the Championship title and are threatening to become the quickest team to reach the Premier League.
That is a record set by last season’s winners, Burnley, who became the quickest side in the competition’s history to secure promotion from the second tier with seven games of their season remaining.
Enzo Maresca’s side are currently 12 points clear of third place Leeds United and their closest rivals to the title are Southampton, who are 11 points off the summit with a game in hand.
Although Leicester have six players who are out of contract in the summer, Maresca is fully focused on wrapping up promotion before dealing with their futures.
Enzo Maresca will only open contract talks once promotion is confirmed
As things stand, there’s an awful lot of first-team experience who are out of contract once the current campaign is concluded. Leicester icon Jamie Vardy, the scorer of 180 goals, is joined alongside the long-serving trio of Marc Albrighton, Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi.
Jannik Vestergaard, who has rejuvenated his career under Maresca, is another whose deal expires, while Dennis Praet is also on that list.
The Italian isn’t panicking just yet, though, as the club want to have their top-flight status secured before they sit down and negotiate with the players they’re interested in keeping.
“In this moment the focus is on the final target for this season,” he said. “If the players who are going to finish with us this season are happy to continue together, good. If us or they are not happy, each one is going to take his decision. We will see.
“For now, there is only one focus. Hopefully we can have a clear situation in one month or two months. Then, when we can see where we are next year, we can make a decision but in this moment, there is only one focus.”
Who should Leicester keep?
Providing promotion to the Premier League is confirmed, you’d expect Maresca would want to keep a few of his first-team players, although that could be dependent on other clubs’ interest.
Iheanacho has proven he can score goals in the top flight previously, but he was a wanted man in the last two transfer windows.
Ndidi, Vardy and Vestergaard have been heavily involved throughout this season and their efforts could be rewarded with a new deal.
Unfortunately, for the likes of Praet and Albrighton, it looks as though their Leicester careers will be drawing to a close after rarely featuring under Maresca.
The Italian certainly has some huge decisions to make in the coming months, but he is right about waiting till promotion is sealed.