Leicester City

"The amount of new managers coming into the league this year, I have never seen anything like it".

Aaron Paul and Jobi McAnuff are joined by special guests Tommy Smith and Alex Bruce to preview the 2025-26 Championship season.

They discuss a range of topics including assessing chances of sides coming down from the Premier League, who the contenders might be for the top six and take a deep dive of each of the sides promoted from League One.

Listen to the full episode of 72+ and more on BBC Sounds.

The 2025-26 Championship opening weekend concludes with an intriguing encounter between Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday afternoon (16:30 BST).

The visiting Owls have been in the midst of a financial crisis, with key players departing and threatening strike action, leaving the English Football League to wonder if Sunday's game will happen at all.

It hasn't quite been so bad for Leicester but their pre-season hasn't been all plain sailing either, with a lot of confusion surrounding the managerial position finally being answered by the appointment of former Queens Park Rangers boss Marti Cifuentes.

• Leicester City are unbeaten across their last three league games against Sheffield Wednesday (W2 D1), last enjoying a longer undefeated run against the Owls between August 1967 and October 1981 (six games).

• Sheffield Wednesday have lost three of their last four away league games against Leicester City (W1), conceding 2+ goals in each defeat.

• Leicester are unbeaten across their last six opening games of a league campaign (W3 D3), since a 2-1 loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford to start the 2018-19 season.

• This is the fourth time in the 21st century that Sheffield Wednesday are starting a Championship season against a side relegated from the Premier League the previous campaign – they lost 2-1 against both QPR (2013-14) and Southampton (2023-24) but beat Aston Villa 1-0 (2016-17).

• This will be the 69th time that Leicester will start a league campaign with a home match, with only Everton having more opening matches on home soil across England's top four tiers (72).

Leicester and Nigeria midfielder Wilfred Ndidi, 28, is set to undergo a medical at Besiktas ahead of an £8.5m move to the Turkish Super Lig. (Sky Sports, external)

Norwich are hoping to beat Leicester and Sheffield United to the signing of England under-21 defender Callum Doyle, 21, who is valued around £10m by Man City. (SportsBoom, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Thursday's gossip column here.

Leicester City midfielder Wilfred Ndidi is set to join Turkish Süper Lig side Besiktas for £9m. (OneFootball), external

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Wednesday's gossip column here.

"You do need to trim that squad down and the emergence of the youngsters who are knocking on the door, you don't want to block their pathway up by having seniors in there."

Former Leicester City goalkeeping coach Mike Stowell joins Owynn Palmer-Atkin to discuss how the squad is shaping up ahead of the Championship season, the Foxes latest signing Asmir Begović, and look ahead to the final pre-season friendly against esteemed Serie A opposition Fiorentina.

Listen to the full episode of When You're Smiling and more on BBC Sounds.

Leicester City are being linked with a move for striker Josh Brownhill after he announced his departure from Burnley. (FourFourTwo), external

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Thursday's gossip column here.

Image source, Getty Images

Leicester City's trip to Austria has no doubt been a success for Marti Cifuentes.

However, the final day of the camp will have left the new Foxes boss with some questions he needs to find the answer to.

The defeat by FC Koln in Graz highlighted the fact that the Foxes are not yet fully symbiotic with the Catalan's style. They struggled to adapt to a different tactical idea from the German side - and it proved to be their downfall as they fell to a 3-1 defeat.

That was a sentiment echoed by both Cifuentes and goalscorer Kasey McAteer, who admitted more work on the training pitch is needed to fully implement the new philosophy.

However, the general mood around the camp has been lifted entirely following last season's relegation from the Premier League. Cifuentes has instilled a confidence and has been fierce in his methods of doing so.

He will not settle for anything less than best - from his players or himself.

The Foxes, now back on home soil, have plenty of work to do to get them ready for the beginning of the new Championship season.

Leicester City defenders Caleb Okoli and Ben Nelson feature on the latest edition of BBC Radio Leicester's When You're Smiling podcast.

The pair sit down to talk to Owynn Palmer-Atkin at Leicester's pre-season training camp in the town of Stegersbach in Austria.

Okoli, 24, is in his second season with the Foxes after moving to the King Power Stadium from Italian club Atalanta in the summer of 2024, while 21-year-old Nelson is back with Leicester ahead of their return to the Championship after spending last season out on loan at Oxford United.

Both player have outlined their desire to help get the 2015-16 Premier League title winners back to the top flight after promotion from the Championship in 2024 was immediately followed by relegation.

"Everybody knows we need to bounce back and that is our main target," Okoli told BBC Radio Leicester.

"Everyone knows that Leicester City belongs to the Premier League for the history of the club and everthhing they have achieved."

Image source, Getty Images

Tucked away in a secluded part of the Austrian countryside, a couple of hours from Vienna, is Stegersbach. It's where Leicester City have based themselves for an important period of their pre-season preparations.

It's hot and humid. The sort of days where you'd rather be relaxing by a pool, but a passionate Marti Cifuentes is making his players work. Hard.

There is though, a positive feeling around the camp, a flavour of optimism not seen since the last time they found themselves in England's second tier.

You get the sense that the players are buying into his ideas too. Today we spoke to Caleb Okoli and Ben Nelson for the When You're Smiling podcast, and both praised their new managers enthusiasm and tactical philosophy.

They are two players desperate to find themselves in the starting line-up and helping lead this club back to the Premier League. This club belongs there, according to Okoli.

Tomorrow though, they leave Austria. But only once they've completed their final checkpoint, of two fixtures back-to-back in two different arenas en route back to Vienna.

That could prove a real indication as to where the Foxes are in the Cifuentes-Masterplan.

Leicester City manager Marti Cifuentes tells BBC Radio Leicester that he is 'grateful' for the support he has received since being named Foxes boss.

The Spaniard has spent much of his first week at the helm of the East Midlands club getting to know his players on their pre-season trip to Austria.

He says he is "looking forward" to the challenge of trying to get Leicester out of the Championship for the second time in three seasons after they were relegated from the Premier League under Ruud van Nistelrooy.

"I know how tough sometimes it can be after relegation, but I want to bring them this love of the game that they enjoy," he said.