“I actually wants to play alongside you again but……”: Leicester City’s Dewsbury-Hall finally breaks silence as he replies James Maddison’s message, reveals main hurdles in deal negotiations [Full story link in comment]
Promotion may not prevent Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s potential summer sale, but they still need a Premier League return regardless.
Leicester City seem to be in a bit of financial bother at the moment.
Losing £89.7m during the 2022/23 campaign, according to their latest accounts, it looks as though some players will need to be shifted on during before June 30 comes around to compensate for this and give themselves the best chance of ensuring they don’t face any further sanctions.
Having already been charged by the Premier League for an alleged breach of profitability and sustainability rules, they won’t want potential points deductions to control their destiny, so sales seem inevitable.
Clearly, there are some players who can be moved on without impacting the Foxes too much.
Daniel Iversen, Harry Souttar and Danny Ward all fit into this category – and Souttar could make the Foxes a considerable amount of money considering the fact he’s still fairly young, is a capable international player and has plenty of time left on his contract at the King Power Stadium.
But sales of key players may also be required – and no one has been more heavily linked with a Leicester exit in recent weeks than Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
Interest in Leicester City’s Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall grows
Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton and Hove Albion are both interested in Dewsbury-Hall, according to talkSPORT.
90min also believes Manchester United are keen on the midfielder, although it remains to be seen whether Erik ten Hag’s side will make a summer move for him.
Arsenal, Brentford and Fulham were linked with a move for him back in January and at the time, The Athletic reported that Leicester wanted £30m for the player, but a January move didn’t materialise in the end.
The player’s contract doesn’t expire until the summer of 2027, so it’s no wonder why the Foxes were in such a strong negotiating position in the winter.
Why Tottenham link reinforces the need for Leicester City to win promotion..
Promotion may not guarantee that Dewsbury-Hall stays, but there are a couple of reasons why promotion is still crucial, with the midfielder’s potential departure in mind.
Firstly, it seems inevitable that Leicester will start next term with a points deduction or will get a deduction during the next campaign.
With this in mind, they would much rather receive this sanction in the top flight.
If they stay down and get it in the Championship, that could harm their chances of getting back to the top tier at the second time of asking, especially if a key man like Dewsbury-Hall leaves, and that means more key players may need to be sold in the coming years.
That, as well, would reduce their chances of getting back to the top level anytime soon.
The Foxes remaining in the second tier would probably weaken their negotiating position on Dewsbury-Hall too.
He may only be 25 and have more than three years left on his contract, but the player will surely want to secure a top-tier return and may even push for it in the summer if the club isn’t promoted, even with his connection to Leicester in mind.
The player is more likely to be keen to stay put if they are promoted – and that will only help to raise his price tag.
If they sell him for more, that could help the club to remain within financial limits and ensure they don’t face any further sanctions after the one they get following their recent charge.
Promotion is key and that’s no longer a guarantee, even though they were in such a strong position back in mid-February.
