Leicester City star Ricard Pereira has admitted he feels like a weight has been taken off of his shoulders after getting the Foxes back into the Premier League.
The defender has been speaking to Marca about life at Leicester as they gear up for their return to the Premier League next season.
The 30-year-old was a key player for the club last season, making 39 appearances in the Championship and managing three goals and three assists.
He appeared to have gotten back to his best after a difficult few years ruined by injuries, with an Achilles tendon rupture seeing him spend 184 days on the treatment table between August 2022 and February 2023.
That means he was unable to help the club stay in the Premier League, something that was clearly weighing on him.
“I have taken a weight off my shoulders. It was important to move up to the Premier,” he said.
“There is no single explanation (for their relegation). Many things came together. We started badly in the League, confidence plummeted, and it is not easy to change that dynamic.
“We managed to come back, but suddenly, the World Cup arrived in the middle of the course, and we went down again.”
“It wasn’t because we didn’t want to (stay up). We tried to change things. In your head you think: ‘There are many games left, we’re going to go out, we have a good team…’.
“You think it’s impossible for it to happen, but it happened, and it was very hard. A very big shock, especially after the recent successes we had achieved.”
As is often the case following relegation, Leicester faced something of a difficult summer as finances had to be tightened and players in the squad eyed moves elsewhere.
They ultimately ended up losing several first team stars to Premier League clubs, with James Maddison joining Tottenham, Harvey Barnes going to Newcastle, Timothy Castagne heading to Fulham and Youri Tielemans leaving on a free transfer and signing for Aston Villa.
Pereira could have also departed the King Power if he had wished to do so, but says he elected against that as he wanted to pay Leicester back.
“I received some offers and my idea, at first, was to leave, but the preseason began and my head, little by little, clicked,” he added.
“I saw something different: I liked it the team, the new manager… Also, there was a part of me that wanted to return Leicester to the place it deserves.”
The question now, is what comes next for the Foxes? Like most promoted sides, the aim will be to avoid relegation at the first time of asking.
Leicester will be confident of doing so after an impressive rebuilding year in the Championship but head into the Premier League with plenty of doubts hanging over them.
The club are already facing the prospect of a points deduction before the season starts, while Enzo Maresca’s imminent departure to Chelsea will leave them on the hunt for a new manager as well.
There are also financial concerns at the club, with suggestions they won’t have big funds available to strengthen the squad significantly for life back in the top flight.
Pereira, though, isn’t concerned and believes he and his teammates are in for a much more comfortable year than their last in the Premier League.
“In football you never know, but I am calmer than a year ago,” he concluded.
“The return is going to be difficult, but I am excited. There is a team to, if we do things well, have a calm season.”
