Leicester City Manager Russell Martin Prepares for Departures

Leicester City manager Russell Martin says the club must brace itself for more departures as he reshapes a squad suddenly living in League One reality.

Wout Faes and Stephy Mavididi were the most striking omissions from the matchday group for Saturday’s season opener at Notts County. Both had featured in pre-season, Mavididi even starting the EFL Cup win over Northampton a week earlier. Then came Meadow Lane and both were nowhere near the pitch.

That felt deliberate. It was.

Faes and Mavididi on the brink

Martin did not dress it up. Leicester are planning for a future that may not include either the Belgian defender or the winger.

"I think we're navigating and managing change in the best way," he told BBC Radio Leicester, outlining a club in transition and a squad in flux.

"They've been really respectful, I think we're treating them with respect. Whilst they're here, they train, they're involved. We just feel that for us, we have to be prepared to be without them."

The interest is real. The bids have already arrived.

"We've turned down bids for both, but that's ongoing, so we'll see, but I'm not sure any will go soon," Martin said.

So Leicester wait. Faes and Mavididi wait. The window ticks on, and a League One giant keeps trimming its wage bill and reshaping its identity, knowing more exits are not just possible but likely.

"And if they stay, no problem, we'd be really happy with both being here," Martin added, making it clear he is not pushing them out, but cannot build his season around them either.

Late blow at Meadow Lane

On the pitch, Leicester came within nine minutes of starting life in the third tier with a statement win. Instead, an 81st-minute Notts County equaliser cut through their momentum and left Martin talking about nerves rather than control.

City’s new head coach pinned the late lapse on anxiety and "tension" inside a young group still learning what it means to close out games.

"I think that's the biggest learning for us," he said. "That if we don't look after each other with the ball like we didn't in the last 20 minutes, the game becomes like that and it doesn't suit us."

The pattern was familiar to anyone who has watched a youthful side under pressure. Possession lost too cheaply. Passes rushed. Territory surrendered.

"It's the only frustration and it's because we have a couple of moments that make us anxious and we don't play with anywhere near enough intensity and detail with the ball in our half and it keeps coming back."

The ball did keep coming back. Eventually, Leicester paid for it.

Youth, promise and a missing piece

Martin refused to let the late equaliser overshadow everything. He saw enough in the performance to cling to.

There was a debut off the bench for forward Admir Bristric, another glimpse of the club’s push towards a younger, hungrier core. When he came on, the attack suddenly looked like a development squad thrown into a senior fight.

"I'm really happy with the group we have, genuinely," Martin said. "They're really young, you saw that at the end. With Admir, the front three was really young."

That youth excites him. It also exposes the gaps.

"So we could probably (do with) a couple of guys that have been there and done it to help us manage a game in that way," he admitted. Experience, not just energy. Calm heads for frantic finales.

Any such arrivals will not be immediate.

"We'll see, but there's nothing imminent in the next day or two."

So Leicester move on with what they have: a squad being streamlined, senior players on the brink of the exit, a young team learning the hard way how to survive in League One. The question now is whether those lessons arrive quicker than the departures.