Unfortunately, the fairytale came to a screeching halt almost as soon as it had begun. Kanté left for Chelsea in the off-season of 2016. It soon became evident that the Frenchman had been the lynchpin of Leicester's title run; despite fielding a largely unchanged squad from the previous season, Leicester only finished 12th in the league. They then continued to struggle over the following two seasons.
Things began to turn in the 2019-20 season. Leicester were on course to return to the Champions League for the first time in four years but lost their last two league matches to surrender fourth place and the last Champions League spot. Nevertheless, there was cause for Brendan Rodgers' team to be optimistic heading into the 2020-21 campaign; perhaps this would be the season in which they would seal their return to Europe's biggest stage.
However, during the most recent Premier League matchday, Leicester received a stern reality check, losing 3-0 to Liverpool. To make matters even worse for Leicester, only Schmeichel's excellent performance between the posts prevented the Reds from really running up the score on a completely overmatched Leicester team.
Leicester had come into the match on the back of three consecutive Premier League victories and were actually ahead of Liverpool by one point in the league. Despite these facts, it became clear as the match unfolded that Leicester are not likely to be top-four material come the end of the season unless some major changes are made during the upcoming January transfer window.
This is a team which is quite simply not on the level of other top-four contenders. The other teams which are most comparable to Leicester at the moment are Everton, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur; despite currently leading the league, Tottenham are likely to fall back into the pack at some point, while Manchester City will probably begin their climb up the standings before too long.
When you look at Spurs, you can see that in Harry Kane, they have someone who is capable of putting the team on his back and single-handedly willing them to victory when the pressure is at its highest. Kane is ably supported by Hugo Lloris, Son Heung-min, Eric Dier, and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg. With José Mourinho in the dugout on top of all of that, there's no reason why Spurs shouldn't be in the top four.
Looking at Everton and Manchester United, while neither have a player of Kane's calibre, both nevertheless have squads which, player for player, are clearly better than what Leicester are currently fielding. Everton can boast of the likes of Jordan Pickford, James Rodríguez, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, and Lucas Digne while also being coached by Carlo Ancelotti. United, meanwhile, have Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford, Scott McTominay, and David de Gea, among others.
Leicester just do not stack up. They have done well to be where they are right now. However, as was shown by what happened against Liverpool, staying there will be a tall order indeed. It is one thing to beat the odds with the level of players they had four years ago. It is quite another to do it with their current roster.
It's much too early in the season to jump to any conclusions about Leicester. That being said, it is beginning to appear somewhat likely that their achievements last season might very well represent the high point for this iteration of the team.
If Leicester are to make a genuine push for the top four this season, they need to strengthen the squad in January. However, this time they face the problem of a relative lack of financial might. Every other team around them can easily outspend the Midlands club if they so desire.
It might not be impossible for Leicester to make next year's Champions League, but the outlook is definitely grim.
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