Kelechi Iheanacho released by Leicester while Jannik Vestergaard signs new three-year deal

Leicester City have confirmed the departures of Kelechi Iheanacho, Marc Albrighton and Dennis Praet.

The trio will leave the club when their contracts expire on June 30.

Jannik Vestergaard, however, has agreed a new three-year contract at Leicester until 2027. The 31-year-old played a key role in Leicester’s promotion campaign, starting 44 matches in all competitions. The club say they are in talks with Wilfried Ndidi over a new deal, with his contract set to expire on June 30.

Leicester also confirmed on Friday that talisman Jamie Vardy has signed a contract extension a year ahead of the club’s return to the Premier League.

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Iheanacho, 27, joined Leicester in 2017 from Manchester City. He scored six goals and provided three assists in 26 games last season, recording 61 shots and 34 assists in 232 total appearances.

Albrighton, 34, has been with Leicester since 2014 and was a member of the famous Premier League winning team of 2015-16. The winger scored 19 goals and provided 48 assists in 313 games during his decade at the club. He spent the second half of the 2022–23 season on loan at West Bromwich Albion.

Praet, 30, joined Leicester from Sampdoria in the summer of 2019, scoring five goals and providing seven assists in 107 appearances. He spent the 2021-22 season on loan at Torino and made just six league starts last season.

Vestergaard, who is part of Denmark’s squad for this summer’s European Championship, made just 10 league appearances in his first two campaigns at Leicester following his 2021 move from Southampton, but became an integral part of Enzo Maresca’s side last season . He was out of contract this summer.

“Iheanacho will forever be remembered as a cult hero”

Analysis by Ed Mackey

Four more Leicester contract decisions that come with varying degrees of surprise.

After the season he had under Maresca in the Championship, Vestergaard definitely earned his extension. But questions still remain over his ability to perform at the level required in a Premier League defence, especially where Leicester will have far less possession than they had in the second leg.

As far as those leaving the club go, Albrighton’s announcement comes as no surprise as he was given a fitting send-off on the final day of the Championship season, but his departure will still be upsetting for supporters. It leaves Vardy – whose one-year extension was confirmed earlier this afternoon – as the only remaining member of the 2016 Premier League-winning squad.

Iheanacho will forever be remembered as a cult hero at Leicester, where his performances at the end of the 2020-21 campaign played a key role in the club finishing fifth in the Premier League and lifting their first FA Cup trophy. Last season, however, showed that now is the right time for both sides to go their separate ways, as the 27-year-old managed just five goals – two of which were penalties – in 23 league appearances.

And that leaves Praet, who was always expected to leave this season. Injuries have blighted his time at the King Power Stadium and it has been clear for several years that his long-term future will never be at Leicester. But there were flashes of brilliance, just not enough, unfortunately.

(Warren Little/Getty Images)