Brendan Rodgers has admitted that Leicester City’s inability to carry out any notable transfer activity this summer has even caught him off guard.
The Foxes have been among the quietest Premier League clubs of the summer transfer window, signing just one player, Alex Smithies, who arrived on a free transfer from Cardiff City.
With Kasper Schmeichel leaving the club and intense speculation continuing to surround stars such as Wesley Fofana, James Maddison and Youri Tielemans, club supporters are frustrated with the lack of incoming activity, particularly when their division rivals are spending all money for the coming season.
But it wasn’t just the fans who were caught off guard, with Rodgers admitting even he believed Leicester were preparing for a busy summer.
Speaking to talkSPORT about the club’s transfer plans for the summer, Rodgers said: “Communication here has always been very open between me and the board.
“When I spoke around the February/March period last year, it was clear that what we wanted to do was to improve the team.
“Towards the end of the season there would have clearly been issues about that, but still we go into the summer with the idea of improving. But obviously every time I come back for the start of the pre-season, it’s pretty clear that it will be a challenge for us.
“In terms of communication – it’s open, but certainly at the time I didn’t imagine we would be in the position we are in. But we are in it now and the game is changing all the time.
“During the summer I was still talking to players we wanted to sign. Our recruitment team has done a good job over the last few months.
“We were very clear about the positions we wanted to improve and it was all moving forward. I spent my summer holidays convincing players to come but when I come back the reality of the situation is there and we are unable to follow up.”
When asked if it was strange to make transfer plans and then be told nothing could happen, Rodgers replied: “I don’t manage the finances of the club.
“I run the football department and if they say we can’t sign a player, I trust the club that we can.”
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