Leicester’s move to new £100million training ground delayed due to lockdown

Leicester’s move to their new £100million training ground has been delayed, with the club hoping it will be up and running by the time the new season starts.

The Foxes were due to move from their current Belvoir Drive base to prepare for the 2020-21 campaign at the 185-acre site at Charnwood, north of the city. It has been hailed as one of the best training complexes in Europe.

But building work continued at a reduced rate during lockdown, meaning Leicester had to alter their plans. When the first members of the squad report for pre-season training on Saturday, it will be at Belvoir Drive.

Leicester’s move to their new £100million training ground has been delayed due to lockdown

The new training ground is a considerable upgrade on the old one and is a key part of the Foxes’ plan to attract some of Europe’s best young players.

Manager Brendan Rodgers said: ‘It will be absolutely amazing, it’s going to be one of the best in the world. That’s going to give us an opportunity to develop the players and that is going to be very important for us.

When Leicester players report for pre-season training on Saturday it will be at Belvoir Drive

Brendan Rodgers says that the new training ground will be ‘one of the best in the world’

‘A big part of the solution for us in competing at the top end of the table will be developing players.’

The building work has already had to overcome several hurdles, including the need to relocate a colony of 348 great crested newts — a European protected species.