Newcastle winger just HAD to leave Leicester City last summer

It was always going to be a tough summer for Leicester City after they were relegated from the Premier League after a nine-year stay which included an FA Cup win and the most dramatic league win the Premier League will ever see. However, they had to prepare for life in the Championship and one of those hard decisions they had to make was making sales to survive as a club and return to the Premier League.

Harvey Barnes to Newcastle United had to happen

Barnes was one of the star men in the Leicester City side that was unable to stop the fall and Leicester becoming a Championship club but he has not had to help Leicester return to the Premier League because he secured a move to Newcastle United in the summer.

He joined the Magpies for an undisclosed fee but it is rumoured to be in the region of £38 million. A huge fee for a player but one that was to be expected for an English international. One ex-Leicester City manager has claimed it had to happen.

Ian Holloway believes there was no way Barnes could stay at Leicester City

Ex-Blackpool and Leicester manager feels that Leicester would not have been able to hold onto both Barnes and James Maddison due to agents sniffing around wanting their player to be playing in the top division.

Holloway spoke to Football League World and said  “What you don’t realise is the uproar that the agents would have been causing about these lads dropping down to that level. For those two lads to be on the brink of England call-ups, would they play in the Championship? I think they’d be both pulling their hair out.

“And you could argue that they were part of the team that did it [got relegated], so they deserve to stay there. But unfortunately, when you do go back down, vultures come swooping over the bones and take the meat off them. And that’s what happened.

“I would suggest that it was a necessity [to sell them], not a choice. I think that was forced by the players and their agents, not the club.

“So it’s fantastic that they’re still not feeling down, that the squad doesn’t miss those lads and think ‘we’re going backwards here, this is rubbish’ because that’s what can happen. So, many, many congratulations to the manager and the board for having such a great start to the season.”