Preseason 2026 - Starts 29/6

[davieG]

Russell Martin has 13 players in extra Leicester City pre-season training as 'standards' set | Leicestershire Live

 

Russell Martin has 13 players in extra Leicester City pre-season training as 'standards' set
Leicester City players return to pre-season next week and players will return to Seagrave fresh after their own warm summer training

Louis Page and Jayden Joseph
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Louis Page and Jayden Joseph have been two players who have been filmed in extra training(Image: 2025 Plumb Images)

Josh Holland Leicester City correspondent
19:00, 26 Jun 2026
Pre-season training at Leicester City gets underway on Monday and Russell Martin will get the opportunity to start work with his players ahead of the 2026/27 campaign.

It's a new era at the King Power Stadium and after an abysmal couple of seasons, City go into League One with hope of a good 10 months on the pitch. There remains a great amount of work to be done in the transfer market but Martin has already stressed his excitement at getting to work with the players available.

"We know there is a lot of work ahead of us," he said. "Nothing happens just because we want it to. It will take standards every day, it will take detail, it will take everyone pushing in the same direction, but that is what excites me. I want us to build something here that people can really believe in.

 

“The supporters are going to be massive for us. If we can create that connection between the team and the stands, if we can give them a team that runs, fights, plays with courage and gives everything for the badge, then King Power Stadium can be a really powerful place for us. That starts with the work we do now.”

Away from Seagrave, plenty of players have been getting the work in during the off-season. One thing that will excite supporters is the amount of talented youngsters keeping on top of their fitness when the season is over.

Relegation to League One means the playing squad will look distinctively different in August and there's a big opportunity for academy players to be part of Martin's squad. So it's no surprise to see the likes of Bade Aluko, Jake Evans, Sammy Braybrooke, Jeremy Monga, Louis Page, Will Alves, Logan Briggs, Lorenz Hutchinson, Kevon Gray, Jayden Joseph, Misrad Ali, Kirsten Otchere and Bobby Amartey keeping themselves ticking over.

Evans and Hutchinson have both spent time with performance coach Curtis Playermade throughout the summer. Recently, Evans was pictured training with former City striker Patson Daka, who appears to still be doing work in the Midlands.

Both strikers will return to Seagrave next week with optimism they can be part of Martin's squad next season. Evans showed bright sparks during his short loan spell with Northampton Town with two goals while Hutchinson's goalscoring record for the academy has been remarkable.

Evans has also been putting the work in to improve his finishing with Dan Holman. The coach, who has 272,000 followers on Instagram is a 'goal scoring & attacking coach' and has shared several videos of the Foxes striker in training.

Page has also been working with Holman and shared clips on social media of them training together in May, alongside Evans. The midfielder, who turns 18 in July, has been preparing for an important summer as he looks to take a big stride in becoming a key player at the King Power Stadium.

Back from his loan spell from Huddersfield Town, Alves is facing a pivotal pre-season at Leicester. After making his professional debut in January 2022 at the age of 16, the attacking midfielder is now five years older and has more senior football under his belt.

His short loan spell with Cardiff City in 2025 earned him recognition before Marti Cifuentes allowed him to move to Huddersfield. Unfortunately, the loan spell in League One didn't go entirely to plan with him playing just 15 games across the entire season.

Many have backed Page to take flight as a City star this coming campaign, but Alves falls into the same bracket.

Something that is great to see is many of City's up-and-coming stars training together during the off season. UEFA Licensed coach Steve Stavrou, based in Leicester, has worked with plenty throughout the summer.

Alves, Aluko, Page, Braybrooke, Otchere, Hutchinson and Logan Briggs have all been ticking along against other academy players. A mixture of ball work, finishing, defending and small-sided games have all been shared on social media to give followers an insight into the work being done.

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Braybrooke has been backed to be a starter for Leicester in the new season following his loan spells with Newport and Chesterfield. The midfielder, similar to Alves, has been among the 'five-star potential' group of players for years now but has only played once for the Foxes - that number is almost certain to rapidly increase.

Briggs and Otchere are expected to be assessed by Martin when the doors open at Seagrave for the summer after being regulars for the Under-21s. Briggs, a 21-year-old versatile midfielder, has caught the eye in Premier League 2 recently and will be keen to get further acclimated with the senior team.

Otchere scored nine goals in 16 league games last term in his first season with the Under-21s and added a further three in other competitions. He joins Evans and Hutchinson as current centre-forward choices at the club.

Another group of players that spent time training together during their summer holidays were Aluko, Gray, Joseph, Amartey and Ali. They spent time in Morocco alongside Southampton's Sutura Kakay and former Leicester academy stars Trey Nyoni and Chey Loureiro.

More images were shared on social media of the group enjoying the warm weather on the pitch a couple of weeks ago. Aluko has been training since the first week after the Blackburn Rovers win on May 2.

As it stands, though, the club are yet to confirm whether Ali, Amartey or Briggs have agreed new contract terms after offers were made earlier this summer.

Monga, who has been the subject of bids from English champions Arsenal, has also been training away from England. The winger has been in Algarve with players under the Gersh Football agency alongside Smart Coaching performance coach Montel Adofo.

Manchester City's Kaden Braithwaite and Floyd Samba and Chelsea's Andrew Pennie joined the City star in Portugal

 

 

[RichardGearman]

Interesting to see none of the senior players involved in these sessions apart from Daka. Probably indicates that Martin may only be able to add a small amount of players and is going to have to build up the youth. 

 

I know we are not enamoured by his appointment, but this is a positive step to push standards up.

[Corky]

The Lads are back in for Our Next Chapter

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

15 minutes ago, Corky said:

The Lads are back in for Our Next Chapter

 

The work starts here. ⚔️💪🏼

[honeybradger]

27 minutes ago, RichardGearman said:

Interesting to see none of the senior players involved in these sessions apart from Daka. Probably indicates that Martin may only be able to add a small amount of players and is going to have to build up the youth. 

 

I know we are not enamoured by his appointment, but this is a positive step to push standards up.

The senior players come back from holiday later don't they?

[AjcW]

55 minutes ago, RichardGearman said:

Interesting to see none of the senior players involved in these sessions apart from Daka. Probably indicates that Martin may only be able to add a small amount of players and is going to have to build up the youth. 

 

I know we are not enamoured by his appointment, but this is a positive step to push standards up.

Eh? Daka isn’t our player anymore and won’t be returning. Read it again. It was just saying some of the young lads have been doing off season training abroad and Daka happened to be training with Evans in Loughborough. 

[Merchant_Banker]

18 minutes ago, AjcW said:

Eh? Daka isn’t our player anymore and won’t be returning. Read it again. It was just saying some of the young lads have been doing off season training abroad and Daka happened to be training with Evans in Loughborough. 

Isn’t he still our player until 30th June.😕

[justfoxes]

26 minutes ago, AjcW said:

Eh? Daka isn’t our player anymore and won’t be returning. Read it again. It was just saying some of the young lads have been doing off season training abroad and Daka happened to be training with Evans in Loughborough. 

It’s a shame I really think Daka will be a decent striker in this league it’s about his level ,  you don’t hear many rumours of him being picked up by any other clubs so maybe Martin can persuade him to sign for an extra year to help get us out of this league ?

[Jattdogg]

27 minutes ago, AjcW said:

Eh? Daka isn’t our player anymore and won’t be returning. Read it again. It was just saying some of the young lads have been doing off season training abroad and Daka happened to be training with Evans in Loughborough. 

Training on wha exactly? How to miss a barn from 2 feet away

[1972 Fox]

45 minutes ago, Merchant_Banker said:

Isn’t he still our player until 30th June.😕

New 3 year contract to be announced on 29th June 

[adejo92]

Foxes never quit

 

 

[Kinowe Soorie]

1 hour ago, justfoxes said:

It’s a shame I really think Daka will be a decent striker in this league it’s about his level ,  you don’t hear many rumours of him being picked up by any other clubs so maybe Martin can persuade him to sign for an extra year to help get us out of this league ?

Still wouldn’t get double figures in this league.

[coolhandfox]

45 minutes ago, adejo92 said:

Foxes never quit

 

 

Sometimes I wish they would......

[DesertFox]

Our new moto: Foxes - never quite.... 😟

[Claridge]

be happy to see at least 5 of the young players in from the off

[spacemunky]

Really liked Braybrooke when I watched him at Chessie.

 

Hope he gets on for you this season.

[MC Prussian]

5 hours ago, 1972 Fox said:

New 3 year contract to be announced on 29th June 

With him giving some of his contract money and wages back to the club.

 

How very Christian of him, so selfless.

Edited 47 minutes ago by MC Prussian

[promised land]

6 hours ago, Merchant_Banker said:

Isn’t he still our player until 30th June.😕

Fairly sure he’s still living in Market Bosworth, his G wagon is always outside his house and it does move.

 

[Leicester_Loyal]

2 minutes ago, promised land said:

Fairly sure he’s still living in Market Bosworth, his G wagon is always outside his house and it does move.

 

Must be an automatic because there's no way he's capable of coordinating two feet at the same time.

[CosbehFox]

Given the relative minor gap between the clubs now, and if the club wanted to start doing very simple things to bridge the gap within the fanbase to themselves and to the club, why have they not done a game against Harborough?