5 clubs that have failed spectacularly in the 2016/17 season

5) Leicester City (Premier League)

Jamie Vardy had the opportunity to leave Leicester in the summer but stayed on

How quickly fairy tales can turn into absolute nightmares. After beating 5000/1 odds to lift the Premier League title last season, many expected Leicester City to at least compete for Champions League spots this season knowing full well that a repeat of their success was highly improbable.

Instead, we saw a team that looked out of place in the Premier League’s top half. The Foxes hardly “played like champions” and struggled to get going. Claudio Ranieri seemed to have lost his magic touch while players such as Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez – who were the toast of the league last season – saw their form dip to alarming levels.

Of course, the sale of N’Golo Kante to Chelsea did affect the structure of the team. But the loss of one player does not break apart the entire team. The sacking of Ranieri seemed inevitable and the club have managed to turn around their fortunes under Craig Shakespeare when relegation loomed over the King Power Stadium.

To their credit, they did go on an unlikely Champions League run and were the only English side to reach the quarter-finals in their first ever campaign in Europe. Many could say that last season was an outlier and that Leicester were only returning to the norm. But the squad, with a couple of additions in defence and midfield, did have the potential to compete with the other top six sides.