Leicester City Faces Transfer Tension with Faes and Mavididi
Leicester City boss Russell Martin says the club must brace itself for more departures as he continues to strip back and reshape his squad for life in League One.
Belgian centre-back Wout Faes and winger Stephy Mavididi were notable absentees from the matchday group for Saturday’s season-opening draw at Notts County, despite both featuring prominently in pre-season. Mavididi even started the EFL Cup win over Northampton just a week earlier.
This time, they were nowhere near the pitch.
Transfer tension hangs over Faes and Mavididi
Their omission at Meadow Lane was not a fitness call. It was a signal. Martin does not expect to be able to count on either player once the transfer window closes.
"I think we're navigating and managing change in the best way," he told BBC Radio Leicester, as the realities of a relegated club’s rebuild came into sharper focus.
"They've been really respectful, I think we're treating them with respect. Whilst they're here, they train, they're involved. We just feel that for us, we have to be prepared to be without them."
The interest is real. The bids have already arrived.
"And if they stay, no problem, we'd be really happy with both being here, but with the level of interest that we have," Martin said. "We've turned down bids for both, but that's ongoing, so we'll see, but I'm not sure any will go soon."
Leicester, then, are caught in that familiar summer limbo: wanting clarity, working without it.
Late blow exposes Leicester’s nerves
On the pitch, they came within nine minutes of starting the campaign with exactly what a young, reshaped group craves: a clean, controlled away win. Instead, an 81st-minute Notts County equaliser wiped away that comfort and left Martin dissecting the psychology of his side as much as their tactics.
He pinned the late wobble on anxiety and "tension" running through a youthful squad still learning how to close out games.
"I think that's the biggest learning for us," he said, "that if we don't look after each other with the ball like we didn't in the last 20 minutes, the game becomes like that and it doesn't suit us."
The pattern was clear to him. Once Leicester lost their composure in possession, they lost control of the contest.
"It's the only frustration and it's because we have a couple of moments that make us anxious and we don't play with anywhere near enough intensity and detail with the ball in our half and it keeps coming back."
The pressure finally told. County struck late, and two points slipped away.
Youthful promise, missing experience
The draw did not leave Martin despondent. Far from it. He was quick to highlight the positives in a display that also saw forward Admir Bristric make his debut from the bench.
"I'm really happy with the group we have, genuinely," he said.
"They're really young, you saw that at the end. With Admir, the front three was really young."
That youth brings energy and fearlessness, but also fragility. Leicester’s head coach knows he needs more than raw talent if his side are to handle the grind and pressure of League One.
"So we could probably (do with) a couple of guys that have been there and done it to help us manage a game in that way," he admitted. "So we'll see, but there's nothing imminent in the next day or two."
For now, Martin is juggling competing demands: keeping standards high, keeping young players calm, and keeping key assets focused while bids swirl around them. The squad will change again before the window shuts.
The question is how much – and whether Leicester can grow up quickly enough to turn late tension into late control in a division that rarely shows mercy.
