A draw and a defeat to start their League One season. One victory in 11 league matches. A player exodus. A new manager already under pressure. And the club up for sale.

These are, to put it mildly, not happy times for anyone connected with Leicester City.

The club are in a very different place than they were a decade ago, when they were basking in the joy of being the Premier League’s most unlikely champions.

Celebrations marking that 10-year anniversary throughout the year are unlikely to offer supporters much respite. The reminder of those glory days might even pour more salt in the wounds.

Soon after the Foxes were relegated from the Championship, King Power Stadium hosted a 10-year anniversary match which was billed as the 5,000-1 celebration – their initial odds for winning the league in 2015-16.

Players from that Foxes squad faced an All Star XI managed by Tony Pulis and in scorching conditions in front of about 5,000 fans, it finished 0-0.

Sixteen days later, Russell Martin was appointed manager. He joins with his reputation under the spotlight as he faces the task of turning around the Foxes’ downward spiral to the third tier for the first time since 2009.

Since May 2024, when he led Southampton to the Premier League through the play-offs, Martin has won just two league games in charge of Saints and Rangers, whom he managed for just 123 days.

Leicester have started the league season with a draw at Notts County and a 2-1 defeat at home to Burton Albion.

That result led to a number of bets being placed on the club to drop even further – into League Two. Their odds of a third successive relegation are now 33-1.

Leicester’s alarming start to the season is amid a backdrop of uncertainty off the field, with Thai owners King Power seeking to sell the club after 16 years in charge.

An eight-page sales booklet has been produced to help attract potential buyers, but no official announcement about the sale has come from the Srivaddhanaprabha family, who run King Power.

Concerns about Leicester’s ownership have grown since 2022, when they invested heavily in the transfer market but then failed to qualify for European football.

The Foxes’ accounts revealed they lost nearly £100m in both 2021-22 and 2022-23, resulting in a six-point deduction for breaches in profit and sustainability regulations in 2025-26.

Leicester finished last season in 23rd place in the Championship, five points adrift of safety.

“Can Liam play for the biggest clubs in the country, the biggest clubs in the world? He certainly can. I fully believe that.” The words of McKenna when Delap began to be linked with a raft of top-flight teams towards the end of the 2024-25 campaign.

The son of former Derby County defender Rory ultimately opted for Stamford Bridge.

The decision to join a congested Chelsea squad as a still-raw talent was met with some scepticism but the attraction of reuniting with then-Blues head coach Enzo Maresca may have been a decisive factor.

Maresca was Manchester City‘s under-21 boss when Delap enjoyed great success with the club’s academy, scoring 24 goals in 20 matches in 2020-21 as City won the Premier League 2 title.

His move to Chelsea, however, has been a disaster. It began with Delap’s decision to rule himself out of last summer’s Under-21 European Championship – a tournament that England would go on to win – to make himself available for Chelsea‘s Club World Cup campaign.

The former Stoke, Preston and Hull striker then scored just three goals in 47 appearances overall, a loss of form which resulted in Chelsea giving Delap’s number nine shirt to Joao Pedro before his departure was sanctioned this summer.

Delap’s struggles at Chelsea have been underpinned by three managerial changes and hamstring and shoulder injuries, but also difficulties adjusting to a different gameplan.

Whereas Ipswich used Delap’s speed effectively by counter-attacking into space behind high defensive lines, Chelsea focused more on building possession.

Spain forward Esther Gonzalez has attracted backlash after signing for Saudi Women’s Premier League side Al Qadsiah.

The 33-year-old agreed a mutual contract termination with National Women’s Soccer League champions Gotham FC in July to temporarily step away from the sport to “attend to personal matters in Spain”, according to the club’s statement.

Gonzalez, whose contract was due to expire in 2027, said on Instagram the decision was “due to strictly personal reasons”, adding New York-based Gotham will “always hold a special place in my heart”.

However, on Sunday, Al Qadsiah announced the signing of the 2023 World Cup winner, sparking criticism from both Gotham fans over the nature of her departure, and from within the LGBTQ+ community.

Same-sex relationships and sexual activity are illegal in Saudi Arabia.

Fans on social media questioned her motivations and expressed concerns for her safety while Gotham supporters voiced their disappointment over the messaging around her exit and the club missing out on a transfer fee.

According to Spanish outlet El Mundo,, external Gonzalez has deleted all photos of herself with her wife and their first child, born in January, from her social media accounts since signing for Al Qadsiah.

Gonzalez is not the first footballer to encounter negative reactions for moving to Saudi Arabia, with England midfielder Jordan Henderson attracting criticism following his transfer to Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq in 2023.

The move was described as a “slap in the face” by openly gay footballer Jake Daniels, who had received a message of support from Henderson when he came out.

The former Liverpool captain, who had previously shown his support for the LGBTQ+ community by wearing rainbow laces, a One Love armband, and writing messages of solidarity in a matchday programme, left Al-Ettifaq after six months.

Gonzalez won two NWSL titles, an NWSL Challenge Cup, and the Concacaf W Champions Cup in three seasons after moving to the United States from Real Madrid.

Al Qadsiah finished fourth in the Saudi Women’s Premier League in 2025-26.

BBC Sport has contacted Gotham FC for comment.