The 2026/27 League One campaign finally gets underway this weekend with Leicester City making the short trip to Notts County. The Foxes begin the season as the frontrunners to win promotion from the third tier following their relegation in April.
Russell Martin has spent the last seven weeks working with his squad, with his era at the King Power Stadium getting underway with a Carabao Cup victory last week. Caleb Okoli’s first-half header was enough to seal a second-round tie against Ipswich Town.
Attention now turns to League One, with plenty of focus still on the transfer window. City have signed eight players so far this summer, with striker Admir Bristric the latest arrival. More signings are expected before the window closes on September 1.
Here, our City writer Josh Holland answers your Leicester questions ahead of the new season…
What differences does Martin see in Aluko and Joseph?
There genuinely isn’t much in it. Both players have enjoyed good pre-seasons and Joseph got the nod against Northampton and deservedly so. He’s turned heads this summer and has come back from Tranmere a much better player.
One factor behind the decision is Joseph’s defensive ability, which is arguably slightly better than Aluko, who is arguably better when carrying the ball. The benefit of having the pair is that they are such good friends that there is no bad blood between whoever doesn’t start – Aluko was one of the first to congratulate Joseph on social media for his debut.
I obviously can’t tell you exactly what Martin thinks, but here is what the City boss said on the duo: “Yeah delighted, I thought he [Joseph] was great,” he said after Northampton.
“It’s so close between him and Bade as well, they get on really well, two young guys coming through the academy – it’s really exciting for us to work with and hopefully exciting for the fans to see them on the pitch and doing what they’re doing.
“I said to Bade that it’s really unlucky that he’s not starting the game, two of our really top performers over pre-season. At the minute it’s JJ but Bade came on and did great. They’ve been really exciting players and JJ deserves it.”
Will the club offer Ben Nelson another contract given his circumstances?
It’s a very good question and something that could happen. Leicester did a similar thing, albeit in different circumstances, with Wesley Fofana in 2021 when he fractured his leg in pre-season.
The Frenchman signed a new contract in March 2022 after being supported through his rehabilitation before leaving the club three months later for £75million. Despite pushing for the move, the contract helped Leicester get the best deal possible.
Nelson’s contract is in its final year and it is incredibly likely he would have left before the window closed had he not suffered his injury. That won’t happen now, and he is set to spend the next 10 months recovering from his ACL injury before potentially leaving his boyhood club for nothing.
There have been calls for loyalty to come into the equation, with a new contract giving Leicester the opportunity to secure a fee for him next summer.
Has a decision been made on the club captain?
No. Martin confirmed yesterday in his live Sky Sport interview that Harry Souttar will captain City at Notts County this weekend after having the armband in the cup last week, barring a dramatic change in the next 48 hours
From speaking to the City boss, he isn’t particularly keen on having one captain and leaving it at that. Leadership is something he has tried to develop among his squad all summer, with a leadership group more likely.
Martin said the captaincy situation will be assessed as and when needed, but he has confirmed there is a group of senior players within the squad. “We’ve added some real character to the squad and some real leadership in Wes [Burns] and Conor [Chaplin], for sure,” he said.
“Players that have been there and done it, Alex McCarthy in his own way [too]. He’s not a shouter, but he will lead by example and he captained us a couple of times at Southampton as well.
“I think it’s really important that this club and the dressing room has leaders, I think we’ve added that to the group. It’s up to us to enable other leaders to come through, like Ben was captain in pre-season a lot, to try and add that to his game and to his on-pitch personality.”
Does Burns’ arrival mean Alves will leave on loan?
No, absolutely not. Will Alves is well-liked by Martin and his presence in most teams throughout pre-season is proof of that. Wes Burns’ arrival adds another option on the right and, if he does enough to start, it doesn’t mean Alves is necessarily out.
The academy product is outstanding in the centre, and some would argue that he is even better there. I like him out wide and think he’s such a good option there.
But no, I can’t see Alves going anywhere.
Will City turn to the loan market more?
I would say it’s almost a guarantee that Leicester will consider the loan market in the final three weeks of the window. So far, they have only signed two players on loan in Christian McFarlane and Tommy Watson, with Tottenham’s Malachi Hardy linked with a temporary switch.
The EFL’s rules on loans is interesting and differs from those in the Premier League. Fortunately, there are fewer restrictions with clubs allowed to sign an unlimited number of players on loan at any given time. However, they can only name five loan players in their matchday squad.
They can also sign a maximum of four players from the same club and only two loan players over the age of 23.
So if Watson and McFarlane are in the squad, Leicester can have three more loan players in the matchday squad to bolster Martin’s options. Liverpool’s James McConnell is one player they have recently been tipped to make a loan move for.
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