Leicester City

Nicola Pearson
BBC Sport journalist

Leicester City boss Ruud van Nistelrooy has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Wolves (kick-off 15:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Captain Jamie Vardy came and spoke to Van Nistelrooy on Wednesday about his decision to leave at the end of the season and the Leicester boss said the conversation was "special": "From person to person, former striker to former striker and from manager to player, it was impressive - like his career. The love for the football club comes through in every word he says."

• He continued: "[Vardy] felt really supported by fans from the beginning. Over the 13 years he played, many highs and lows. What stands out is the loyalty to the football club. Taking responsibility for the football club and being the best he can be to preform. He was there through thick and thin, providing typical Vardy ways of playing - aggressive, quick, intuitional. Of course, [you are] a fan's favourite when you play like that and can score goals like that."

• Van Nistelrooy believes Vardy's career is a "remarkable story" and that it is "fair to say he is the best player ever to play for this football club", adding: "The most impact on all the successes that they have had over the past 13 years. He is four games away from 500 games for the football club, two goals from 200 goals for football club. Those figures say a lot. When you put silverware next to them, then you have a complete picture."

• On if Vardy's decision can galvanise the players in remaining games: "His farewell is above anything. He deserves all the credit and honour possible from the club towards him, the squad towards him, the supporters towards him and all people who love football towards him. It is all in focus of that and that is how we will move forward."

• Van Nistelrooy denied any conversations with the ownership have taken place this week, but that the board are aware of his plans from previous discussions: "To move forward and to bring the club back and build back up with the people in this building. I am waiting for the club to come back and say OK, in the sense of when can we start to look for the alignment needed. The quicker, the better."

• On opponents Wolves and the job Vitor Pereira has done: "They have done well. The manager has done an excellent job coming in this winter. I think they have invested, not sure how much, but they reinforced the squad on top of a squad that is already good and has had a long time in the Premier League. All credit to them."

Follow all of the reaction to Vardy's leaving announcement

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Following the announcement that he will be leaving Leicester at the end of the season, Jamie Vardy has confirmed he has no plans to retire after his departure in the summer.

The striker will turn 39 in January but he has no plans to quit having scored 232 goals in 536 appearances for Fleetwood and the Foxes.

"This isn't retirement - I want to keep playing and doing what I enjoy doing most, scoring goals," he said. "Hopefully there's one or two more for Leicester between now and the end of the season and many more in the future.

"I may be 38 but I've still got the desire and ambition to achieve so much more."

If you just want something to enjoy today...

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Former Leicester winger Marc Albrighton has labelled Jamie Vardy the Foxes' greatest ever player.

Albrighton won the Premier League and FA Cup alongside Vardy while at the King Power Stadium, and his former team-mate is the only remaining player from the title-winning squad of 2015-16.

Albrighton, who left the Foxes last year, knows what legacy he leaves.

"He is obviously the greatest ever Leicester player," he told BBC Sport. "Everything he's achieved individually and with the team will never be forgotten by the Leicester fans and the club.

"It's going to be be tough for everyone because kids have grown up watching him and it's going to be a tough moment for everyone.

"It will take some getting used to not having him around the club."

Vardy is two goals away from scoring 200 for Leicester, with five games left of the season and his Foxes career.

As well as winning the Premier League and FA Cup he also helped the Foxes to the Champions League quarter-finals in 2016-17 and the Europa Conference League semi-final in 2022.

However, after a second relegation in three seasons from the Premier League was confirmed on Sunday, he described it as a "total embarrassment".

"He certainly wouldn't have wanted to go out on these terms but you've just got to recognise when you're ready and when the time is right," said Albrighton.

"I don't think there's ever been a good time for him to do this. You have to look past what's happened in this last year and recognise what he's done in the ast 12 or 13 years.

"It's not ideal the club have just been relegated and he goes out now but at the same time everybody has to move on, Vards himself and the club."

Jamie Vardy was a central character in arguably the greatest story in the history of the Premier League.

He was the talisman and main marksman in the Leicester City side that stunned the sporting world by winning the Premier League in 2015-16.

From relegation escape artists the previous season and 5,000-1 outsiders, to champions the next is a feat that is unlikely to be repeated.

And at the heart of it all was Jamie Vardy - pacey, feisty and an inspiration behind an unlikely tale that will always be re-told as long as the Premier League exists.

Leicester have labelled Vardy the club's greatest player. Few would mount an argument against that tag being applied.

Image source, Getty Images

Jamie Vardy's departure will mark the end of an era at Leicester City.

The striker put his name in the history books during his 13-year stint at the club - scoring in a record-breaking 11 consecutive top-flight matches, lifting the Premier League trophy with 5000-1 odds and ranking the eighth best in the world in the 2016 Ballon d'Or.

So tell us, what does Vardy mean to you?

Was it the right time for him to leave or should he have extended his stay?

What are your most iconic memories of him?

Where should the club build his statue?

Let us know your thoughts here

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Striker Jamie Vardy says he is "devastated" to be leaving Leicester.

It was confirmed on Thursday that the 38-year-old's 13-year spell with the club will be coming to an end at the conclusion of the season. He has scored 198 goals and is third on the list for all-time appearances with 496.

In an emotional video posted on Leicester's X account, external, Vardy said: "To the fans of Leicester, gutted that this day is coming but I knew it was going to come eventually.

"I've had 13 unbelievable years at this club, with lots of success, some downs, but the majority all highs.

"But it's finally time to call it a day, which I'm devastated about but I think the timing is right.

"I just want to sincerely thank you all for taking me in as one of your own. Leicester will always, always have a massive place in my heart and I will make sure that I will be following for the years to come in what I hope will be even more success for the club.

"As for now, this is my goodbye but you will see me again soon, I promise."

Image source, Getty Images

Leicester striker Jamie Vardy will leave the club at the end of the season after 13 years with the club.

The 38-year-old joined Leicester in May 2012 and has gone on to play 496 times for the club, scoring 198 goals and providing 69 assists.

Vardy was key to the Foxes' famous Premier League title win in 2016, netting 24 times and breaking current boss Ruud van Nistelrooy's scoring record by netting in 11 consecutive games.

He also won the FA Cup and Community Shield during his time in the East Midlands.

Vardy's announcement comes after Leicester's relegation back to the Championship was confirmed at the weekend.

Image source, Getty Images

The Athletic's Leicester City correspondent Rob Tanner says there has been "collective" failing in the Foxes' hierarchy and suggests hiring a new director of football to allow Jon Rudkin to change roles.

Rudkin has been in his role since 2014 - and has overseen the most successful period in the club's history - but has been the subject of fan chants calling for his removal throughout this season.

"Criticism should be there - there has to be accountability," Tanner told BBC Radio Leicester's When You're Smiling podcast. "He [Jon Rudkin] has been picked out as the one figure that will be accountable for all the mess at Leicester but I think it is a collective.

"There is more than one person involved. We had the Brendan [Rodgers] era where the contracts got out of hand and some of the transfer spending increased without selling assets. We had success for a number of years but it wasn't sustainable success.

Leicester's relegation was confirmed on Sunday with five games still to play after a miserable period involving a club-record run of home defeats without scoring.

Tanner believes the executives at King Power Stadium need to take responsibility.

"It's the decision-making at the club as a whole and a lot of that rests on Top [chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha] but certainly Jon needs some accountability," Tanner said.

"Director of football? Just focus on the football, nothing else. Let the people from other departments focus on those because from what I gather Jon can be involved in a lot of things inside and outside the football club."

"There needs to be clear focus. If he is going to take this more general overview then perhaps he should move to an advisory role with Top and then have someone who is totally and utterly focused on the football aspect to put in place a strategy.

"We need to to have a strategy on who to recruit that goes beyond the manager because the manager is changed so often.

"This model is not working. It is broken and it needs to change."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Lee Carsley, Danny Rohl and Russell Martin are on Leicester's shortlist should they sack manager Ruud van Nistelrooy. (Sky Sports, external)

Want more transfer stories? Read Wednesday's full gossip column

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We wanted you to share your thoughts on the two starting XIs which have seen Leicester City relegated to the Championship in two of the past three seasons, and plenty of you have been sending your views in.

Did the Foxes get their recruitment right over the past three seasons? Have the new additions improved the squad?

Here are some of your thoughts:

Vin: How did we go down in 2022-23 with that line-up?! It's a case of the same issue though - players throwing in the towel.

James: Nothing has improved. We haven't been able to make genuine, long-lasting signings. We aren't strong enough for the Premier League. With barely any signings made, we weren't going to survive with the squad we have got. We need new, young talent to build the team, but we also need a manager willing to stay with us no matter what. The past two years in the Premier League have just been nothing but an embarrassment!

Ian: We just haven't been good enough this season. The players we brought in even struggled to get into the team. We need a good clearout and to start again. Give some of the youngsters a run out for the remaining games. Also, I'm afraid it is time for our great Jamie Vardy to step aside too.

Neil: The squad is very poor as a result of the inept management of the football club. The past few years of player and manager recruitment have fallen well short of the standard required to maintain Premier League status, yet nobody seems to be accountable for this. The recruitment last year was horrendous, with only one player making a positive difference to the quality of the squad - El Khannouss. Skipp, Edouard, De Cordova-Reid, Ayew and Okoli are all Championship standard unfortunately.

D: Our biggest problem is Soumare. He doesn't see a defence-splitting pass and a lot of the time you wouldn't think he was even out there playing. We need a new midfielder who can read the game.

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BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club panel reacted in disbelief to BBC Radio Leicester's Owynn Palmer-Atkin's revelation that the younger Foxes players had a "disconnect" with Steve Cooper that contributed to his sacking.

"It seems strange that it would happen to Steve Cooper as his reputation was built on the England Under-17's World Cup," said New York Times chief football correspondent Rory Smith. "He is famously good at bedding in young players and building around young players.

"You could have understood it if it was Jamie Vardy, Conor Coady and people with that level of experience. It does seem strange that the younger ones would go against him.

"It seems that the players who undone things for Cooper were loyal to Enzo Maresca and they didn't like their stepdad."

Former Premier League striker Chris Sutton added: "That sums up everything wrong with Leicester this season. If we're hearing that young players are questioning a relatively experienced manager and his tactics - then heaven help Leicester and where they go.

"There's a lot of bad eggs in there."

Listen to Monday Night Club

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When Enzo Maresca left Leicester for Chelsea last summer, there was great anticipation over who would replace him for the start of the Premier League campaign.

Steve Cooper was perhaps not the most glamorous appointment, but his top-flight experience - albeit with rivals Nottingham Forest - was a positive weapon in his arsenal.

Fast forward 12 games and Cooper was surprisingly sacked, despite Leicester sitting outside of the relegation zone, competing in games and picking up crucial points.

They went from scoring in every game under Cooper, to not scoring at home since the beginning of December.

So why did Leicester sack him?

"The majority of Leicester fans were willing to give Cooper a chance and they enjoyed his touchline passion," said BBC Radio Leicester correspondent Owynn Palmer-Atkin. "We got the impression from the club that it was his connection with the players that was the initial problem. There was a disconnect.

"But it's muddled up thinking to go from Cooper, to a manager like Ruud van Nistlerooy, who hasn't then been able to pick up the results as well. Usually a manager comes in and they are at least able to lift the team and regain the passion to an extent but that didn't happen.

"Having dug a little bit deeper, some of the senior players like Jamie Vardy and Conor Coady were players that were on board with Steve Cooper and buying into what they wanted to do because at that stage they were - at the very least -competitive in most games but were largely outclassed.

"It seemed to be more the younger players, the kind of players that weren't maybe at the total level of some of the older guys in the squad, that were maybe not connecting so well with the manager because it was a completely different style of play [than Enzo Maresca].

"He was asking them to do things they weren't used to and they wanted to continue playing the 'Enzo Way' if you like. Cooper was trying to build his own way as any manager would want to. There is a perception that this is the case at Leicester - it's not a perception that shines well."

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Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart has said Jamie Vardy is "allowed to feel how he needs to feel" after the Leicester City captain apologised to the club's supporters on social media for a "miserable season" that has been a "total embarrassment".

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club, Hart added: "Vardy felt he needed to make that statement - good for him - but I'm sure Leicester City would have much preferred him scoring goals and discussing it from a different angle.

"But he is obviously very close to the club - and the club is very close to him.

"It's strange, isn't it? The noise coming out of Leicester City at the moment is quite a hard one to get your head around.

"If they hadn't had their huge triumph in 2016, it feels like the club would have really imploded.

"But their standalone, absolutely unbelievable bit of modern-day history seems to be holding the club together by a thread at the moment."

Watch the full episode on BBC iPlayer or listen on BBC Sounds

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We asked you to compare the starting XI that saw Leicester City go down to the Championship in 2022-23 to Ruud van Nistelrooy's XI that sealed the club's relegation fate this season.

Did the Foxes spend their money wisely during this period? Have the new additions improved the squad?

Here are some of your thoughts:

Peter: We should've never been relegated two years ago. We had the players to stay up but it started going wrong in the August sunshine. The recruitment has been poor, with no striker to support Vardy. This season's team is just not good enough, at both ends of the pitch. It was always going to be difficult to stay up and we have got nowhere near. The squad needs a complete overhaul (easier said than done) with a clear out of the non-performers, otherwise we will be stuck in the Championship - or worse down in League One - for some time.

Nick: When you look at the quality in 2022-23 XI, I'm not sure how they got relegated. I guess the board and/or manager got it wrong even then. There has been no investment.

Sam: Most of the recruitment has been short-sighted and ineffective. I like El-Khannouss, but I wonder whether we should've got a player to play alongside Buonanotte or a different loanee to get more creativity in the side. The injury to Fatawu was a killer. Overall the squad is weaker, older and harder to sell - so that can only be seen as a negative.

Richard: Terrible recruitment. Skipp for £20m - if take the zero off, that's what we should have paid. Ward is still hanging around the club, another load of money wasted. Ayew hasn't been bad but for £5m, Crystal Palace must have been laughing all the way to the bank. The Edouard loan... what can I say apart from WHY?! This is all of Jon Rudkin's poor investment - and that's just the tip of the iceberg. It makes me sad.

Chris: Let's build for next season and start doing it now. Get rid of Ruud and put Jamie Vardy and Andy King in until the summer.

We are keen to hear even more of your thoughts, so do get in touch here - and we will post some of your replies on this page later on Tuesday.

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BBC Radio Leicester's Owynn Palmer-Atkin says a lot of what has been happening at King Power Stadium "hasn't really made sense".

Explaining why it has been a disappointing and "frustrating" season for Foxes fans, Palmer-Atkin told BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club: "It is from top to bottom, and it is all around strategy and their alignment now compared with what they have had before.

"The recruitment is patchy and hasn't really made sense, and the managerial appointments don't really add up either. Alongside all of that, there is quite a deafening silence from the board, who haven't spoken for a great deal of time.

"If you add all of those things together with the performances this season and relegation, it makes for a frustrated fanbase.

"They are also escaping Profit and Sustainability Rules by the skin of their teeth, so it is not good. It doesn't look like they have a plan.

"I saw the logic of hiring Enzo Maresca. They understood the way he wanted to play and they backed him. It was a risk that paid off. But when he left they brought in Steve Cooper, who is not really the same sort of manager.

"Maresca to Cooper to Ruud van Nistlerooy doesn't feel very joined up.

"Paired with poor recruitment, it doesn't feel like there is a clear strategy that links all of the club together."

Watch Monday Night Club on BBC iPlayer or listen on BBC Sounds

Chris Forryan
Fan writer

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So the fat lady put on her make-up and sang so loudly she was probably heard in Nottingham.

Last time we were relegated we had some fight. It went to the last game of the season. This lot seemingly do not know how to fight.

This club is now rotten from the top (no pun intended).

On the day we were relegated, our owner sat in his comfy seat laughing with his director of football who, along with our chief executive, have led us to some of the biggest losses in our history.

An article on Monday said Leicester City are at a crossroads and in need of a rebuild. No we are not. We are at a dead end and could turn into Luton Town mark two.

Top did not agree with Jon Rudkin's choice of manager and said so publicly while identifying Ruud van Nistelrooy as his choice. How did that work out?

Not so long ago we were the club everyone looked up to. Now we are the club everyone is laughing at.

Yes, these are the people that took us to unbelievable highs. But every clock is right twice a day, and now sadly our time is up.

Find more from Chris Forryan at Leicester Till I Die, external

Leicester City's starting XI has changed considerably since relegation to the Championship in 2022-23, with current boss Ruud van Nistelrooy only naming three of the players that started in the Foxes' relegation-defining fixture against West Ham United two years ago to face Liverpool on Sunday.

The three players were left-back Luke Thomas, centre-back Wout Faes and defensive midfielder Boubakary Soumare.

Significant changes to the squad came after the Foxes suddenly found themselves in the second tier with a wage bill of a top-half Premier League team, forcing them to sell high-profile player James Maddison and academy talents such as Harvey Barnes and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

So comparing the XI that saw Leicester go down two years ago to the XI that sealed the club's relegation fate this season, how do you reflect on the two line-ups?

What is your verdict on how the Foxes spent their money during the Championship rebuild in 2023-24 and during this top-flight campaign?

Have any recent signings improved the squad?

Let us know your thoughts here

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Former Leicester City winger Matt Piper has criticised the club's hierarchy after relegation from the Premier League was confirmed by Sunday's home loss to Liverpool.

Speaking on BBC Radio Leicester's When You're Smiling podcast, Piper said the Foxes' decision-makers have "not been good enough" for a while now.

"We have been flip-flopping around for too long now. Yes, we did have success last season but we've gone straight back down," he added.

"The recruitment for managers and players has been all over the place for too long. It's not been good enough.

"We haven't been signing the right kind of managers and players and we've been getting it wrong. It's clear that the whole football hierarchy department of the King Power is not right and it hasn't been for some time."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.

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Jamie Vardy has apologised for Leicester City's season, saying the Foxes have "failed" and have "no excuses" after relegation was confirmed.

The former Premier League winner has cut a frustrated figure for most of the campaign as he has only scored seven goals in the top flight this season.

He wrote on X, external: "At this point, I don't even know what to say.

"No words I have can ever express my feelings of anger and sadness with the way this season has gone. There are no excuses.

"Collectively, as players and as a club, we failed.

"There is simply no hiding, and I refuse to entertain any suggestion of doing so.

"Having been at this club for so long, we've experienced so many highs and successes - and this season has been nothing but miserable and for me personally, a total embarrassment. It hurts, and I know you're feeling it too.

"To the fans: I'm sorry."