JACK GAUGHAN: Leicester are paying the price for a stagnant summer as Man U defeat keeps them bottom

Leicester City actually signed an outfield player on deadline day. A novel concept around these parts this summer; the biggest plus of the window for Brendan Rodgers is probably that it has now closed.

Rodgers has held himself well over the past few weeks. He has said just enough, exuded just enough frustration, to calmly illustrate the issues without appearing overly dramatic.

Acutely aware of a need to balance the books, and remain within Financial Fair Play rules, the ownership – led by chairman Aiyawatt ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprabha – felt they could not commit to spending without sales.

That has left Rodgers in a bind and why £15million Reims centre half Wout Faes only arrived eight hours before Thursday’s game – Leicester waiting until this week for Chelsea to cough up the £70m required to complete Wesley Fofana’s protracted move. Faes watched on and will fancy himself to significantly improve a backline that was pulled every which at times struggled to contain Manchester United.

With four defeats from five and bottom of the pile, the major problem for Rodgers now is that there remain players in this team who may feel their time at the King Power ought to have already come to an end.

‘Players who maybe thought they were moving on are not, us hoping to get players in to improve and help and obviously that hasn’t been done,’ Rodgers said. ‘What is important is collective, is so important. We have talented players but it doesn’t count for anything if you are not together.’

One of them, Youri Tielemans, started against United. James Maddison and Boubakary Soumare, both subjects of interest, did too. Making some of these guys tick again appears to be the manager’s biggest challenge since taking the job in 2019.

Youri Tielemans may have thought he was leaving the Foxes, but he featured on Thursday

Ex-Reims defender Wout Faes became the first outfield player Leicester signed this summer 

They have undoubtedly begun this season with a handicap after a stagnant summer – one that should have really seen something of a natural refresh. Ideally, Rodgers would have wanted a number of changes in personnel, with those who saw their futures elsewhere making way for hungrier replacements. They needed to generate sizeable fees but last season’s performances dictated that those were not forthcoming.

Leicester’s ninth-placed finish represented a significant drop-off after challenging for Champions League qualification in the previous two and standing still was not an option. That has put them in reverse as rivals all strengthened during the most lavish transfer window ever seen. United, with whom they have been in direct competition recently, embarked on a spree north of £200m. Erik ten Hag said this week they no choice in order to compete.

The Leicester fans know all this. That state of anxiety around the club is palpable, evidenced by the groans at misplaced passes, some negativity in possession and how comfortably Jadon Sancho scored midway through the first half. It might get worse still before any signs of improvement.