Leicester City fans will want to erase Steve Cooper’s reign as manager from their memory, although one development will remind them of a blatant error he made.
Cooper was hired as the replacement for Enzo Maresca, who led Leicester City to the Championship title before being snapped up by Chelsea.
The 45-year-old, formerly of Nottingham Forest, wasn’t a popular figure at the King Power Stadium as supporters disliked Cooper’s style of football.
It was one reason why Cooper lost the dressing room at Leicester as the Welshman was involved in a huge fallout with first-team stars Jannik Vestergaard, Harry Winks and Hamza Choudhury.
In the end, Cooper was sacked by Leicester midway through November after a five-match winless run, though it wasn’t just the results on the pitch that were questionable.
Steve Cooper’s signing of Oliver Skipp was a huge mistake
Leicester signed eight players in the January transfer window, including the £20 million transfer of Oliver Skipp from Tottenham.
The Englishman was signed as a genuine deep-lying midfield option with Boubakary Soumare expected to leave Leicester.
However, with the Frenchman remaining at the club and flourishing alongside Winks at the base of midfield, Skipp’s game time has been limited.
Skipp was shocking in a recent defeat to Newcastle, and that was one of just seven starts he’s made in the Premier League this term.
To make matters worse, for each of his 12 top-flight appearances since his August arrival, he’s cost the club a whopping £83,333 per game with the 24-year-old earning £50,000 a week, per Capology.
Financially, the deal was a huge mistake as Skipp isn’t worth close to £20m, and other areas of the squad such as right-back should have taken priority.
Not only that but the amount they spent on the former Tottenham man has reminded Leicester of the situation they find themselves in with PSR.
Leicester could face Premier League points deduction
Leicester’s financial issues have long been reported and they aren’t out of the woods yet with the Premier League’s PSR rules.
According to The Guardian, Leicester are facing a nervous wait to discover whether they are charged by the Premier League.
This is because the club recorded pre-tax losses of £92.5m and £90m for the 2022 and 2023 financial years respectively, putting them at risk of a points deduction.
Everton and Nottingham Forest experienced a similar fate with their deductions last term and a familiar narrative could play out with the Foxes if they are charged.
Leicester will be told by January 13th if they’ve breached PSR, and any punishment could hand Ruud van Nistelrooy a blow in their hopes of survival.