Six games, overseas camp, split squad – What Leicester City plan for pre-season

Leicester City are planning an overseas training camp and six friendlies over the course of the summer as Brendan Rodgers hopes a rigorous pre-season will lead to a strong start to the new campaign.

City are due to return to their Seagrave training base in the final week of June for the first of six weeks leading up to the Premier League’s opening weekend. The season has shifted forward a week this August to accommodate the World Cup during November and December.

As usual, the return of City players will be staggered, with those currently on international duty afforded more time for rest and recovery. During the first fortnight of pre-season, City will play the first of their summer fixtures but this will be behind closed doors.

City will then head abroad for an overseas camp, their first since before the Covid-19 pandemic, with Evian on Lake Geneva the likely destination, with the club having spent time during a couple of previous summers. On their way back, they will stop off in Belgium for their first public friendly against sister side OH Leuven on Saturday, July 16. That is the only pre-season fixture so far confirmed by the club.

Once back in the UK, City will have four more friendlies before their competitive season begins, with two of those set to be on the same date, with the squad split into two to allow for more game-time for the group. City did this three years ago, during Rodgers' first summer at the helm, with one team beating Stoke 2-1 and the other drawing 2-2 at Rotherham.

Six friendlies in total is more than in the previous two summers, while it matches the number of games played in 2019, when City went unbeaten in pre-season heading into Rodgers’ first full campaign at the King Power Stadium.

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