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In February, Leicester City lost 3-1 away to Leeds - reducing what had been a 17-point lead at the top of the Championship to just six.

Manager Enzo Maresca came into the changing room and said just one thing: "We will finish ahead of Leeds."

A deliberately timed, measured message with the purpose of spreading confidence.

Three months later, after just one season in the Championship wilderness and in his first full campaign as a number one in senior football, Maresca and Leicester are back in the big time as champions.

But there are clouds on the horizon. Leicester's fate could be set as much by decisions made off the field as those on it.

The euphoria created by promotion can not disguise the fact that not everything is well.

The news that Leicester face potential financial fair play issues is something Maresca only became aware of after the start of the season.

It is disingenuous to imagine that the club knew nothing about the potential problems they could be facing and not informing their Italian manager earlier is not a good look.

This is evidenced by the highly unsatisfactory January transfer window involving two deals in particular. Cesare Casadei was very much part of Maresca's plans after signing him on loan from Chelsea at the start of the season. Then Chelsea recalled him in the winter window.

Stefano Sensi, from Inter Milan, had come to the UK to help complete the deal once the two clubs had negotiated a fee for the player. Suddenly everything fell apart over concerns surrounding the club's FFP standing.

To say Maresca was unimpressed on both occasions would be an understatement.

Surviving in the top flight will be hard enough even without the handicap of having to start next season with a points deduction.

While Leicester's fortunes are not yet fully known, the one thing that is certain is that Maresca has no intention of changing his way of playing for the Premier League.

He also won't want to make some of the mistakes Vincent Kompany made at Burnley, believing most of his promoted squad could keep them up. Changes to Leicester's squad are required.

Maresca and his family are comfortable in Leicester. His children have stayed in England for most of their lives and any change of location always brings with it a degree of personal drama. But the Italian coach doesn’t see himself having a long career in management, so every step along the way has to be calculated with care.

It is logical that Maresca, with offers from European Cup winners and Spanish and Italian teams, and interest from English clubs, would consider all of his options after listening to the chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha during the squad break in Monaco on the Thai businessman's yacht.