With several of the Premier League’s top six stuttering, the 2019-20 season could be the perfect opportunity for Leicester City to launch an assault on the division’s elite group.

Manchester United finished the last campaign in dire form, and Arsenal were not much better, while Chelsea have lost their manager and star man in Maurizio Sarri and Eden Hazard.

But to take advantage of the uncertainty above them, City will need a good summer of recruitment and although they have a £100m state-of-the-art training ground to pay for, it is expected that Brendan Rodgers will be backed in his first window as manager.

City’s net transfer spend under Claude Puel was a relatively frugal £19m, ranking them 17th of Premier League clubs for the three windows the Frenchman was in charge.

The £60m club-record sale of Riyad Mahrez to Manchester City kept Leicester’s net spend down but they still forked out more than £100m last summer, and a similar figure could be spent this year.

However, the height of City’s budget depends on Harry Maguire. City do not want to let the England centre-back go and it would take a huge bid, and for the 26-year-old to indicate he wants to leave, for the club to even consider a sale. A source has told LeicestershireLive that it would take an offer of near £100m to sway City vice-chairman Khun Aiyawatt.

If Maguire was to depart, the fee would be reinvested into the playing squad, giving Rodgers a bigger budget to work with, albeit he would need to spend a portion on a replacement centre-back.

As in previous summers, City will likely bring in around five or six new faces. But how will the budget be split? Which positions could they spend big on? We take a look.

Youri Tielemans

A significant portion of the budget will go towards bringing in Youri Tielemans, City’s number one target.

City have put forward a £40m bid to Monaco in a proposal that would see Adrien Silva go the other way, and there is cautious optimism that a deal will be completed, even with the French club holding out for bigger offers from elsewhere.

How big a chunk the deal takes out of City’s budget depends on the valuation of Silva. The Portuguese international is likely to be considered a £15-20m player.

If Tielemans' signature cannot be secured, City will spend a similar amount on an alternative midfield target.

New winger

Tielemans is not the only player City want to strengthen their starting line-up.

Rodgers has expressed his desire for a winger who can play on the inside while the City boss has also said he judges his wide-men on goals and assists.

With neither Demarai Gray, Marc Albrighton nor Rachid Ghezzal putting up big numbers and with Harvey Barnes only six months into a Premier League career, it is expected that a new winger will be wanted for the first XI.

Proven attacking players do not come cheap and City may have to spend upwards of £25m to bring in someone they believe fits the bill.

Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers wants a winger this summer
Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers wants a winger this summer

Squad strengthening

The rest of City’s summer recruits will be signed with the intention of strengthening the squad, rather than the first team.

City are confident of sealing a deal for Luton full-back James Justin, wanted as a deputy to Ricardo Pereira, with a mooted fee between £7.5m and £12.5m.

City also may look for another forward-thinking midfielder as a back-up to Tielemans and James Maddison, as well as an extra wide-man.

These players will be raw, rough-around-the-edges types and so will not be bank-breakers, although good young prospects still cost reasonable fees these days, as showcased by the £13m City paid for Filip Benkovic last summer.