New reality that means changes of heart will be harder to come by

In the week before Leicester City's last Championship campaign began, Enzo Maresca claimed six players had had a change of heart about their futures.

- By JORDAN BLACKWELL

The half-dozen had signalled their intent to leave the King Power Stadium at the start of the summer, but after a month of working with the Italian had told him of their desire to stay.

Maresca turned down the opportunity to name the City players and so the claim was his word alone.

But it does not feel far-fetched with what followed after. It looked like a happy, committed, together squad that won the Championship for City, and they were clearly big admirers of Maresca and his style of play.

However, the early signs this summer are that convincing players to willingly stay will be a more difficult task.

Because it may not have been solely Maresca's football that drove that commitment.

There was a greater sense two summers ago that City's return to the Championship would be a brief, one-season stay.

For the players that saw their careers at the top level, they just had to grin and bear (and in the end, enjoy) one season in the second tier, and then they would be playing regular top-flight football from there on in.