Brendan Rodgers thinks Leicester City have been hampered by a lack their stability in the opening few weeks of the 2022/23 campaign.
The Foxes find themselves bottom of the Premier League after four games and they face Manchester United on Thursday evening.
Their defender Wesley Fofana is finally set to join Chelsea as his dream move has been agreed between the two clubs.
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Fabrizio Romano is now reporting that Reims defender Wout Faes is their ‘main option’ to replace Fofana.
He notes that he is ‘not the only one’ on their list but negotiations are ‘ongoing’ with Reims.
Up to now, Rodgers has been unable to sign reinforcements – with the exception of the free arrival of goalkeeper Alex Smithies – without big-money sales, while he has yet to generate an expected clearout of squad players.
It has all added to the uncertainty at the King Power Stadium and Rodgers conceded it has affected the Foxes.
He said: “Any environment where you can develop has to be stable. Our environment and stability is not there for various reasons. That will change when the window closes but this window has been a very challenging one.
“There’s no question about that. 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. Then you have players in the last year of their contract.
“What is important is collective, is so important. We have talented players but it doesn’t count for anything if you are not together.
“That is always something you have to enforce as a coach. Once the window shuts it will settle everything down.”
The Foxes welcome United on Thursday with Rodgers hopeful of having James Maddison available after he missed the 2-1 defeat at Chelsea with a hamstring injury.
Ricardo Pereira (Achilles) and Ryan Bertrand (knee) are also out with Leicester seeking their first win.
United arrive after successive wins over Liverpool and Southampton with Rodgers facing new manager Erik Ten Hag for the first time.
“Erik is adapting to the country and the league, he will understand very quickly the tempo and intensity will be different from where he’s come from,” added Rodgers.
“He needs the time to assess the squad under pressure, playing in the games. He’ll need time to bring in the players he wants and time to put in place his philosophy. In the modern game that can be difficult but I’m sure he’ll do very well.”
