Marti Cifuentes insists Leicester City will be on top of player contracts and won’t leave decisions over expiring deals until the final weeks of the season.

But the nature of the Championship, and particularly the gulf between the second tier and the Premier League, means that City may need to wait until the campaign’s climax in order for the best option to present itself.

There are a number of expiring contracts at City, but there are five key ones, all for players who have started matches under Cifuentes this term. The players concerned are Harry Winks, Ricardo Pereira, Boubakary Soumare, Jordan Ayew and Patson Daka.

The problem City have is that it feels like the most decisive factor over whether to offer fresh terms to each of those players is dependent on whether the club are promoted.

If they fail to go up, they may not be able to afford to keep those players when they are having to cope with at least one more year...