Leicester City’s historic Premier League title win is still the greatest football story of all time.
Led by Claudio Ranieri, Leicester’s low value squad defied odds of 5000/1 to win the top flight of English for the first time ever.
It was a remarkable achievement made all the more impressive by the fact that they had only just avoided relegation the season before.
The Foxes’ success was a one-in-a-kind and one that is often compared to whenever a team is doing well.
This season, it’s the turn of local rivals Nottingham Forest, who sit third in the Premier League after an excellent season under Nuno Espirito Santo.
Currently, Forest are six points behind league leaders Liverpool (who have a game in hand), leading to some people asking if they can ‘do a Leicester’?
It’s a phrase coined by many football fans, but Leicester fans are in overwhelming agreement about comparisons between their title push and the Forest title push.
Leicester City fans reacts to Nottingham Forest Premier League title comparisons
Throughout the season, Forest have continued to defy the odds and given that they haven’t been near the top of the Premier League in over 20 years and without silverware since the 1980s, an underdog story is brewing.
However, many Leicester fans have dismissed the suggestion that if their East Midlands rivals were to go all the way, it would compare to the infamous 2015/16 season.
One fan wrote: “No one will ever come close to doing a Leicester.”
A second person commented: “Morgan Gibbs White cost them the same amount as the whole of the Leicester squad. Good luck to them but it’s no “doing a Leicester.
“Dreaming is lovely, but let’s not get carried away! Nottingham Forest has a long way to go before they can even sniff Leicester’s fairy tale,” claimed a third.
A fourth wrote: “Nottingham Forest’s performances are far from resembling Leicester City’s historic title-winning campaign. The comparison is premature and lacks substance.
“Not even close. These comparisons really are ridiculous!” stated this Foxes fan.
How much did Leicester’s title-winning squad cost in comparison to Nottingham Forest’s current side?
One of the most impressive parts of Leicester’s 2015/16 title win was the value of their squad.
Their most expensive signing that summer was Japanese forward, who joined for £7.5m from Mainz and their preffered starting XI cost a total of £28.8m
Forest, on the other hand, have spent far more to assemble their first team squad, with the individual fees paid for Morgan Gibbs-White, Ibrahim Sangare and Elliot Anderson all costing more than the entire starting XI combined that won the Foxes the league.
| Team | Squad Cost |
| Leicester City (2015/16) | £57.8m |
| Nottingham Forest (2024/25) | £366.9m |
The entire 2015/16 squad meanwhile cost £57m whereas Forest’s cost them a whopping £366.9m to assemble, as per Transfermarkt.
Whilst they’ve been clever in signing defenders such as Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic for cut-price fees in recent times, huge sums have been spent on players since their return to the top flight three seasons ago.
Additionally, in every season since the 2022/23 campaign, Forest have spent over £100m, showcasing their financial musclepower.
From the spending fees alone, it’s hard to even compare Forest’s recent successes with Leicester’s.