Foxes' financial fight gathers pace

Leicester today revealed they are “at an advanced stage” in negotiations with creditors and the Professional Footballers’ Association as the club‘s plc board look to avoid being placed into administration.

The Foxes want to cut their wage bill by 20% to combat debt which has increased following their relegation to the Football League and the collapse of ITV Digital, and had been expected to make an announcement on whether the pay cut had met with the approval of all parties today.

But in a statement to the Stock Exchange the club said: “The company is at an advanced stage of negotiations with its main creditors and is hopeful of reaching agreement in the near future.

“The company is also in negotiations with the Professional Footballers’ Association and the players at the club. The company is due to meet with the PFA tomorrow to further discuss cost-saving proposals which the company’s directors believe are essential in order to avoid the company and the club being placed in administration.

“Were all of the above negotiations to be successfully concluded, the company would also need to raise further funds by way of an issue of new equity to both existing and new shareholders. The company has received conditional support for an element of the required funding and will continue to seek further support for the issue.”

Leicester are understood to be around £30m (€47m) in debt and were forced to restructure their finances after receiving a tax bill for £1.5m (€2.4m).