Three Leicester players axed from squad for crunch West Ham game over Covid breach
Midfielder James Maddison could be facing a battle to win back his place in Gareth Southgate's England squad after the incident
By John Percy 11 April 2021 • 3:35pm
Hamza Choudhury, James Maddison and Ayoze Perez were dropped for Leicester's game at West Ham
Leicester axed James Maddison, Ayoze Perez and Hamza Choudhury from
their top-four shootout with West Ham after the trio breached Covid regulations.
Furious Brendan Rodgers left them out of his squad after discovering they attended a party after the Premier League match
against Manchester City last weekend.
It is understood the party was held by Perez, the forward, and Rodgers has taken a hardline stance by excluding them from his plans for the potentially pivotal game at West Ham.
Telegraph Sport understands the trio have not been fined as yet for breaking club rules, with Rodgers insisting that leaving them out of Sunday's crunch game was punishment enough.
Rodgers made no reference to the incident in his press conference on Friday afternoon, but will address the issue after the West Ham game.
Maddison, Perez and Choudhury will be available for
next Sunday's FA Cup semi-final against Southampton at Wembley.
A Leicester City spokesman said: "The club has made its expectations around adherence to COVID-19 protocols abundantly clear to all its personnel.
"It is extremely disappointing, therefore, to learn of a breach that had the potential to undermine the efforts of club staff to protect the environments in which our teams train and play. Appropriate measures have been taken to prevent our team bubbles being compromised.
"We wholly expect our people to behave in a way that reflects the national effort and the sacrifices made by our communities to control the spread of the virus. Those involved have apologised for their poor judgement. Our response to the matter will be concluded internally."
Brendan Rodgers is due to address the incident after the game. Maddison has only recently returned from a hip injury and this latest incident could damage his hopes of an England recall. Though he missed out on last month's World Cup qualifiers, Maddison has been watched by England manager Gareth Southgate on a number of occasions this season and this could leave him facing a battle to win back his international place.
In October 2019, Southgate warned his England players that he continually monitors their behaviour, shortly after Maddison was photographed at a poker table in a casino. On that occasion, Rodgers defended the £25 million signing and insisted his reputation as a troublemaker was undeserved.
Perez's absence comes at a time when the forward has been in arguably the best form of his Leicester career since his move from Newcastle in July 2019.
Choudhury, the midfielder, could be facing an uncertain future as a Leicester player after he was warned over his discipline by Rodgers last season. Former Leicester defender Ben Chilwell and Choudhury were both left out of the squad for the game at Burnley last January, and subsequently fined, for turning up late to a training session.
Choudhury was a loan target for Newcastle and West Brom in the January transfer window, and it is likely he will be made available this summer.