Jordan Ayew is leaving Leicester City after two seasons, becoming one of 10 players released by the club in the wake of relegation from the Championship. The 32-year-old forward scored 11 league goals in 72 appearances and featured in all but four of Leicester's Championship matches this season.

His exit comes as Leicester rebuild after finishing second from bottom, with the club moving quickly to trim a squad that has been reshaped by the drop. Ricardo Pereira, who had already announced his departure earlier in the month, is also leaving after eight seasons at Kingpower Stadium, while Patson Daka, Jamaal Lascelles and several younger players are going too.

Pereira’s exit closes an eight-season spell that began when he signed from Porto for £21.8m in 2018. He made 220 appearances in all competitions, scored 15 goals and won the FA Cup and the Community Shield with Leicester, making him one of the club’s most decorated players of the recent era. Daka, who joined from RB Salzburg for £23m in 2021, departs after scoring five goals in 41 Championship appearances this season. Lascelles, brought in on a short-term deal in January, is also leaving, along with Jake Donohue, Jahmari Lindsay, Alfie Fisken, Toby Onanaye, Olaoluwa Omobolaji and Chris Popov. Popov scored seven goals during a loan spell with Morecambe this season.

The departure list underlines the scale of Leicester’s reset after relegation, with experience and fringe prospects leaving in the same sweep. Even so, the club is not ending every outgoing conversation: 38-year-old Asmir Begovic is in talks over a new contract as his current deal is due to expire this summer.

Ayew’s exit also lands at a moment when his next move may have consequences beyond club football, with the Ghana forward expected to be part of the Black Stars squad for this summer’s World Cup. For Leicester, the bigger picture is simpler and harsher: the rebuilding has begun, and it is starting with names that once carried real weight at Kingpower Stadium.