Having enjoyed years of improvement under Brendan Rodgers, Leicester City found themselves enduring a far more frustrating period during the summer.
A combination of financial restrictions and squad limits prevented Rodgers from making the level of changes that he had craved at the end of 2021-22.
With few notable departures, there is currently no obvious pathway for many academy players to continue their progression in the first team, inevitably leading to loan exits.
Here, Sports Mole takes a look at how the Foxes players, most of them in the youthful category, have been faring elsewhere in recent weeks and months.
WHICH PLAYERS ARE FINDING IT BENEFICIAL?
There was a time when Hamza Choudhury looked like he could hold down a first-team spot at Leicester for years to come, but the academy graduate dropped down the pecking order under Rodgers.
However, the former England Under-21 international is getting the starts that he craves at Watford, making a total of eight appearances in the Championship.
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Meanwhile, 18-year-old Ben Nelson has already made five starts and two substitute outings for League Two outfit Rochdale, which is beneficial experience for the teenager even if his club are at the bottom of the standings.
WHICH PLAYERS NEED MORE TIME?
Having only moved to Blackburn Rovers on August 31, George Hirst requires more time to make an impression at Ewood Park, but he has at least made one start and two substitute appearances.
Josh Felix-Eppiah has taken longer to make just one six-minute substitute outing in the fourth tier, although the Belgian will argue that he is now on an upward trajectory with that appearance coming last weekend.
WHO MAY NEED TO RETURN TO THE KING POWER STADIUM IN JANUARY?
On the back of his loan stint at Dunfermline Athletic in 2021-22, Jakub Stolarczyk would have hoped for regular game time at Fleetwood Town.
However, the 21-year-old goalkeeper is yet to make an appearance in League One, instead only featuring in the EFL Cup and EFL Trophy.
Khanya Leshabela has made seven outings in League Two for Crewe Alexandra, but each of his outings have come from the bench, totalling 129 minutes.
Twenty-year-old goalkeeper Brad Young moved to Notts County for first-team action, something that he is yet to achieve with the National League side.
Darren Plant
