‘Next six weeks’: Ruud van Nistelrooy hints that Leicester City are already planning for next season

Leicester City finally stopped the rot as they drew 2-2 with Brighton & Hove Albion.

Goals from Stephy Mavididi and Caleb Okoli saw the Foxes end a 76-day wait for a Premier League goal and an eight-game losing streak.

Sadly, a point on the road won’t do much for the Foxes’ survival hopes and with six games left of the season, Leicester are 14 points adrift with only six games remaining.

Barring a miracle, Leicester will be playing Championship football next season and Ruud van Nistelrooy has hinted that they are already looking ahead to next season.

Ruud van Nistelrooy to ‘use the next six weeks’ to prepare for Championship

The Leicester manager is clearly planning ahead to next season – as proved by his choice of personnel and setup.

Van Nistelrooy ditched the 5-3-2 and also included youngsters Jake Evans and Olabade Aluko in the squad. The likes of Victor Kristiansen were also dropped and the Dutchman admitted that the end of the season is being used to get a head start for the 25/26 campaign.

Speaking after the game, he said: “We talked a lot on how to move forward with the six or seven games, how to use them, how we want to break the cycles.

“We also spoke about how to use the next six weeks for the absolute benefit of every individual in the squad to prepare in the best way possible for the next season, without stopping the fight until it’s mathematically over.


“That’s including new players in the squad, shaping the future in that way. It’s a change of course since the Newcastle game and is definitely the way forward if I look at this performance today.”

Will Ruud van Nistelrooy be Leicester manager next season?

After the Newcastle United defeat, Van Nistelrooy sounded doubtful about his future but his comments after Brighton suggest that he will still be in charge next season.

When the 48-year-old was appointed, reports claimed that the Foxes wouldn’t be able to sack Van Nistelrooy due to the financial element of the deal.

It’s been a torrid first few months in charge but the draw on the South Coast proved that he is willing to change and maybe a hint of something to come in the future.