A promotion inside the data department, the club’s financial housekeeping, and the hunt for a new loan manager are all examined in the Leicester City notebook.
With eight bank loans now listed as satisfied, Leicester City has been conducting some financial housekeeping.
Updates were uploaded to Companies House last Thursday, indicating that eight loans obtained from the Australian bank Macquarie had been settled. Three of those concerned transfers, and five concerned loans that City had obtained using funds from Premier League TV.
City frequently accepts player sales in installments, with the buying club’s transfer fees spread out over a few yearly payments. To obtain the money up front, City then arranges loans with Macquarie.
According to the most recent information available on Companies House, the loans obtained against the transfer fees owed for Ben Chilwell and Wesley Fofana’s moves to Chelsea, as well as Riyad Mahrez’s move to Manchester City, have finally been paid back. City still owes money for four more players: Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to Chelsea, Timothy Castagne to Fulham, Harvey Barnes to Newcastle, and James Maddison to Tottenham. The club paid Macquarie in advance for these deals.
In addition, City has unpaid loans that are backed by Premier League revenue. September saw the registration of the most recent of those.
Keeping the books in order is the only reason for this practice. As casually mentioned on social media, there are no signs that City is cleaning up its finances in an attempt to draw in investors.
A new manager of loans is needed.
City has 10 players out on loan this season, which is a far higher number than usual, following a hectic summer searching for possibilities for marginal first-team players and prospective starlets. The club is now looking for a new employee.
The city is looking to hire a new loan manager. They want to hire someone who can build connections with clubs around the nation to secure the best loan deals, then help and guide those young players while also providing scouting reports on their development.
The club states in their job posting: “The successful postholder will assist in the identification of loan opportunities by conducting a thorough analysis of football league clubs and their own network of people across the football landscape, working closely with the director of football, academy manager, and LCFC academy staff within the Player Development Phase (PDP).” The position will offer a full range of support to help the player deal with the difficulties of being on loan, living away from home, and the academy atmosphere while keeping in mind the best interests of the young players’ development while they are on loan.
The job advertisement makes no mention of the new loans manager working side by side with an existing employee, which would imply that the new hire will be taking Robert Huth’s place. The club has not yet verified that.
Huth joined the position in October 2022 and has been in it for a few years. After Guy Branston left to start his own football agency, the position had been vacant for some time.
Promotion for newcomers
Behind the scenes at City, Peter Thompson has been promoted and a new lead data scientist has been hired. Thompson joined City from Southampton in March as a recruitment data scientist, but he has since taken over after Edd Webster left.
A surprise hire when he joined from the Lego Group in 2023, Webster resigned in the summer to work for Ludonautics, an analytics consulting firm founded by Ian Graham, the former head of research at Liverpool. Webster replaced Mladen Sormaz, City’s first head of analytics, who originally left for 777 Partners, the US conglomerate that owns several teams and lost an attempt to acquire Everton. Sormaz is currently the sports director for Barnsley.
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