What is Leicester City's estimated weekly wage bill as Premier League relegation confirmed - surely they cannot carry this into the EFL | OneFootball

FLW takes a look at how much the Foxes are spending on their current playing squad, and why they can't afford to carry it into the Championship.

Leicester City's Premier League relegation has been confirmed, and the Foxes' attention will now turn towards preparing for life back in the Championship next season.

Following their 1-0 loss to Liverpool on Easter Sunday, Leicester's top flight fate was sealed.

The appointment of Ruud van Nistelrooy simply hasn't worked out to this point, and Foxes fans aren't best pleased with the account their side have given in the Premier League this season.

As such, the upcoming summer transfer window feels like a hugely important one for the club to get right, as they look to balance the books whilst also being seen to be aggressive in the market in search of an immediate top flight return.

So, just how much work have Leicester got to do in that regard? Using figures from Capology - which must be stressed are an estimate - Football League World takes a look at the club's estimated weekly wage bill heading into the summer window.

How much Leicester City are spending on their playing squad this season

The conversation of how much newly promoted clubs have to spend in order to survive in the Premier League is one of the hottest topics of debate in English football at this moment in time.

Indeed, this will be the second successive season where all three newly promoted clubs drop straight back down to the Championship, as the divide between the top and bottom of both divisions seemingly grows wider with each passing year.

Leicester City have endured a torrid campaign, winning just four times in the top flight after 33 games, with just 18 points on the board and a goal difference of -46.

So, how much has it cost them to put up those numbers this term? Using estimated figures from Capology, let's find out!

As per Capology's figures, Leicester are splashing out on a total weekly payroll of £1.282m, which means the Foxes are paying their players an average weekly wage of £36,643-a-week.

In total then, Leicester are splurging an annual grand total of £66.69m on player wages. To put that into perspective, and to help explain why they simply can't carry that sort of wage bill into the Championship, that's almost double that of Leeds United's annual payroll total of £36.79m, which is the highest of any Championship club this season.

Who are some of the obvious candidates to help Leicester City trim their wage bill down

Naturally, given the time of the year and Leicester City's relegation to the Championship already confirmed, planning will surely already be underway among the club's hierarchy as to how they're going to approach next season.

With any relegation often follows a significant overhaul of the playing squad, for both wage bill and individual player ambition reasons.

So, which Leicester players standout as being potential avenues for the Foxes to trim down their sizeable wage bill this summer? Once again, using Capology's figures, let's take a look.

Long-time servant and Foxes legend Jamie Vardy, perhaps unsurprisingly, sits as the club's highest-earning player this season, picking up a weekly wage of £140,000.

However, at 38, coming off one of his lowest-scoring seasons of his Foxes career and out of contract in the summer, he's surely one that's heading for the King Power Stadium exit door at the end of the season.

Striker Odsonne Edouard and midfielder Harry Winks are the next top earners on £90,000-a-week. Edouard is on loan from Crystal Palace, and so he will naturally be removed from the wage bill upon his return to Selhurst Park, whilst Winks is a player who will surely have little interest in playing second tier football.

£80,000-a-week midfielder Boubakary Soumare is another who will surely be seeking a move away from the club this summer, whilst £75,000-a-week trio Patson Daka, Conor Coady and Wilfred Ndidi respectively did all play in the second tier with the Foxes last season, but will surely have to take a pay cut in order to be involved in another campaign next season.

Evidently then, Leicester do have some obvious ways of easing their wage concerns heading into the summer, as they look to make their Championship stay a passing visit next term.