# 2017–18 Leicester City F.C. season

The 2017–18 Leicester City season was the club's 113th season in the English football league system and its 50th (non-consecutive) season in the top tier of English football. This season saw Leicester City participate in the Premier League for the fourth consecutive season as well as the FA Cup and EFL Cup. The season covered the period from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018.

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| Date | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| 1 July 2017 | CB | Sam Hughes | Chester | Free |
| 1 July 2017 | CB | Harry Maguire | Hull City | £17,000,000 |
| 6 July 2017 | DM | Vicente Iborra | Sevilla | £15,000,000 |
| 19 July 2017 | GK | Eldin Jakupović | Hull City | Undisclosed |
| 3 August 2017 | CF | Kelechi Iheanacho | Manchester City | £25,000,000 |
| 8 August 2017 | RW | George Thomas | Coventry City | Undisclosed |
| 1 January 2018 | CM | Adrien Silva | Sporting CP | £22,000,000 |
| 9 January 2018 | CF | Fousseni Diabaté | Gazélec Ajaccio | £2,000,000 |

### Transfers out

| Date | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| 30 June 2017 | CB | Marcin Wasilewski | Wisła Kraków | Released |
| 30 June 2017 | CM | Michael Cain | Whitehawk | Released |
| 30 June 2017 | CB | David Domej | 1. FC Nürnberg II | Released |
| 30 June 2017 | LM | Brandon Fox | Tamworth | Released |
| 30 June 2017 | CB | Cédric Kipré | Motherwell | Released |
| 30 June 2017 | DM | Matty Miles | Eynesbury Rovers | Released |
| 30 June 2017 | CF | Kairo Mitchell | Nuneaton Town | Released |
| 12 July 2017 | GK | Ron-Robert Zieler | VfB Stuttgart | Undisclosed |
| 15 August 2017 | SS | Tom Lawrence | Derby County | Undisclosed |
| 31 August 2017 | CM | Danny Drinkwater | Chelsea | £35,000,000 |

### Loans in

| Start date | Position | Nationality | Name | From | End date | Ref. |
| 31 August 2017 | CB | | Aleksandar Dragović | Bayer Leverkusen | 30 June 2018 | |

### Loans out

| Start date | Position | Name | To | End date |
| 14 July 2017 | AM | Bartosz Kapustka | SC Freiburg | 30 June 2018 |
| 31 July 2017 | LB | Callum Elder | Wigan Athletic | 30 June 2018 |
| 11 August 2017 | LW | Harvey Barnes | Barnsley | 30 June 2018 |
| 18 August 2017 | CB | Elliott Moore | Oud-Heverlee Leuven | January 2018 |
| 31 August 2017 | DM | Nampalys Mendy | Nice | 30 June 2018 |
| 29 January 2018 | CF | Leonardo Ulloa | Brighton & Hove Albion | 30 June 2018 |
| 30 January 2018 | CF | Ahmed Musa | CSKA Moscow | 30 June 2018 |
| 31 January 2018 | CM | Andy King | Swansea City | 30 June 2018 |
| 31 January 2018 | CF | Islam Slimani | Newcastle United | 30 June 2018 |

## Players and staff
### First team squad

* This section lists players who were in Leicester's first team squad at any point during the 2016–17 season
* Asterisks indicates player left mid-season
* Hash symbol indicates player retired mid-season
* Italics indicate loan player
| No. | Name | Position | Joined | Signed from |
| Goalkeepers ||||||
| 1 | Kasper Schmeichel | GK | 2011 | Leeds United |
| 12 | Ben Hamer | GK | 2014 | Charlton Athletic |
| 17 | Eldin Jakupović | GK | 2017 | Hull City |
| Defenders ||||||
| 2 | Danny Simpson | RB | 2014 | Queens Park Rangers |
| 3 | Ben Chilwell | LB / LM | 2015 | Youth |
| 5 | Wes Morgan | CB | 2012 (winter) | Nottingham Forest |
| 6 | Robert Huth | CB | 2015 | Stoke City |
| 15 | Harry Maguire | CB | 2017 | Hull City |
| 16 | Aleksandar Dragović | CB | 2017 | Bayer Leverkusen (loan) |
| 28 | Christian Fuchs | LB / CB | 2015 | Schalke 04 |
| 29 | Yohan Benalouane | CB | 2015 | Atalanta |
| 31 | Callum Elder | LB | 2013 | Youth |
| 33 | Elliott Moore | CB | 2016 | Youth |
| Midfielders ||||||
| 7 | Demarai Gray | LW / RW / CF | 2016 (winter) | Birmingham City |
| 11 | Marc Albrighton | RM / LM | 2014 | Aston Villa |
| 14 | Adrien Silva | CM | 2017 | Sporting CP |
| 18 | Daniel Amartey | CM / CB / RB / DM | 2016 (winter) | Copenhagen |
| 21 | Vicente Iborra | DM | 2017 | Sevilla |
| 22 | Matty James | CM | 2012 | Manchester United |
| 25 | Wilfred Ndidi | DM | 2017 (winter) | Genk |
| 26 | Riyad Mahrez | LW / RW / AM | 2014 (winter) | Le Havre |
| 32 | Harvey Barnes | AM / CM / RM / LM | 2016 | Youth |
| Forwards ||||||
| 8 | Kelechi Iheanacho | CF | 2017 | Manchester City |
| 9 | Jamie Vardy | CF | 2012 | Fleetwood Town |
| 20 | Shinji Okazaki | CF / AM | 2015 | Mainz 05 |
| 30 | George Thomas | RW / LW / CF | 2017 | Coventry City |
| 33 | Fousseni Diabaté | RW / LW / CF | 2018 | Gazélec Ajaccio |

## Pre-season
### Pre-season friendlies

Leicester City announced five pre-season friendlies against Burton Albion, Luton Town, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Milton Keynes Dons and Borussia Mönchengladbach.

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Premier League | 11 August 2017 | 13 May 2018 | Matchday 1 | 9th | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 56 | 60 | −4 | 031.58 |
| FA Cup | 6 January 2018 | 18 March 2018 | Third round | Quarter-finals | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 060.00 |
| EFL Cup | 22 August 2017 | 19 December 2017 | Second round | Quarter-finals | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 075.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 47 | 18 | 13 | 16 | 75 | 66 | +9 | 038.30 |
Last updated: 13 May 2018 Source: Soccerway

### Premier League
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 7 | Burnley | 38 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 36 | 39 | −3 | 54 | Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round |
| 8 | Everton | 38 | 13 | 10 | 15 | 44 | 58 | −14 | 49 | |
| 9 | Leicester City | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 56 | 60 | −4 | 47 | |
| 10 | Newcastle United | 38 | 12 | 8 | 18 | 39 | 47 | −8 | 44 | |
| 11 | Crystal Palace | 38 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 45 | 55 | −10 | 44 | |
* ↑ Since the winners of the 2017–18 FA Cup (Chelsea) and the winners of the 2017–18 EFL Cup (Manchester City) both qualified for European competition based on their league positions, the berths awarded to the 5th-placed team (Europa League group stage) and the League Cup winners (Europa League second qualifying round) were passed down the league.

#### Result summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 13 May 2018. Source: Premier League

#### Results by matchday

| Matchday | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A |
| Result | L | W | L | L | D | L | D | D | W | W | D | L | D | W | W | W | W | L | D | L | L | W | D | W | L | D | L | D | D | W | W | L | L | D | L | L | W | L |
| Position | 13 | 9 | 15 | 17 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 14 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |

#### Matches

On 14 June 2017, the 2017–18 season fixtures were announced. Leicester City played in the first Premier League fixture that opened the season on Friday.

### FA Cup

In the FA Cup, Leicester City entered the competition in the third round and were drawn away to Fleetwood Town.

### EFL Cup

Leicester City entered in the second round of the competition with an away trip to Sheffield United. A home tie against Liverpool was confirmed for the third round. Another home tie was drawn for the fourth round with Leeds United the visitors. A third consecutive home tie in the competition was announced for the quarter-finals, against Manchester City.

## Squad statistics
### Appearances

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Premier League | Premier League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | | Kasper Schmeichel | 35 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | | Danny Simpson | 31 | 0 | 27+1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | | Ben Chilwell | 32 | 0 | 20+4 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | | Wes Morgan | 35 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | | Robert Huth | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | | Demarai Gray | 44 | 4 | 17+18 | 3 | 4+1 | 0 | 3+1 | 1 |
| 8 | FW | | Kelechi Iheanacho | 28 | 8 | 7+14 | 3 | 4+1 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| 9 | FW | | Jamie Vardy | 42 | 23 | 37 | 20 | 2+1 | 2 | 0+2 | 1 |
| 11 | MF | | Marc Albrighton | 42 | 2 | 30+4 | 2 | 1+4 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 12 | GK | | Ben Hamer | 9 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | | Adrien Silva | 16 | 0 | 9+3 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | | Harry Maguire | 44 | 2 | 38 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | | Aleksandar Dragović | 16 | 0 | 7+4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 17 | GK | | Eldin Jakupovic | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | | Daniel Amartey | 14 | 0 | 6+2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | | Shinji Okazaki | 32 | 7 | 17+10 | 6 | 0+3 | 0 | 1+1 | 1 |
| 21 | MF | | Vicente Iborra | 26 | 3 | 17+2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | | Matty James | 15 | 0 | 11+2 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | MF | | Wilfred Ndidi | 38 | 1 | 33 | 0 | 2+1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 26 | MF | | Riyad Mahrez | 41 | 13 | 34+2 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0+2 | 1 |
| 28 | DF | | Christian Fuchs | 29 | 0 | 21+4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 29 | DF | | Yohan Benalouane | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 30 | FW | | George Thomas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | MF | | Harvey Barnes | 5 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | MF | | Fousseni Diabaté | 16 | 2 | 5+9 | 0 | 1+1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | DF | | Josh Knight | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 37 | MF | | Layton Ndukwu | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | MF | | Hamza Choudhury | 9 | 0 | 4+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 45 | DF | | Sam Hughes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Players who left during the season ||||||||||||
| 10 | MF | | Andy King (on loan at Swansea City) | 15 | 1 | 5+6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 13 | FW | | Ahmed Musa (on loan at CSKA Moscow) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 19 | FW | | Islam Slimani (on loan at Newcastle United) | 17 | 5 | 2+10 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| 23 | FW | | Leonardo Ulloa (on loan at Brighton & Hove Albion) | 6 | 0 | 0+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | | Nampalys Mendy (on loan at Nice) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |

### Top scorers

| Rnk | No | Pos | Nat | Name | Premier League | FA Cup | League Cup | Total |
| 1 | 9 | FW | | Jamie Vardy | 20 | 2 | 1 | 23 |
| 2 | 26 | MF | | Riyad Mahrez | 12 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| 3 | 8 | FW | | Kelechi Iheanacho | 3 | 4 | 1 | 8 |
| 4 | 20 | FW | | Shinji Okazaki | 6 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 5 | 19 | FW | | Islam Slimani | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| 6 | 7 | MF | | Demarai Gray | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | 21 | MF | | Vicente Iborra | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | 15 | DF | | Harry Maguire | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | 11 | MF | | Marc Albrighton | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | 33 | MF | | Fousseni Diabaté | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 |
| 11 | 10 | MF | | Andy King | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | 25 | MF | | Wilfred Ndidi | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | 13 | FW | | Ahmed Musa | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 56 | 9 | 10 | 75 |

## Awards
### Club awards

Leicester's annual award ceremony, including categories voted for by the players and supporters, was held on 1 May 2018. The following awards were made:
| Player of the Year Award | Harry Maguire |
| Young Player of the Year Award | Wilfred Ndidi |
| Players' Player of the Year Award | Harry Maguire |
| Academy Player of the Year Award | Connor Tee |
| Development Squad Player of the Season | Hamza Choudhury |
| Goal of the Season Award | Jamie Vardy vs. West Brom, 10 March 2018 |
| Performance of the Season | vs. Southampton, 13 December 2017 |