Members of Leicester City's first-team squad reportedly held their first meeting regarding Claudio Ranieri as early as December.

On Thursday night, the football world was left stunned as Leicester announced that they had sacked Ranieri, who led the Foxes to the Premier League title last season despite their pre-season odds of 5,000-1.

However, their poor form has left them sitting in the bottom half of the table throughout the campaign and according to The Sun, discussions have been taking place over the Italian since the end of 2016.

It has been claimed that a number of players met with director of football Jon Rudkin, while it has been suggested that a further three meetings have taken place with the club's hierarchy since December.

It is said that players voiced concerns over their manager's tactics as he attempted to juggle their efforts on both the domestic and European scene.

On Friday night, Kasper Schmeichel became the first player since the announcement of his departure to publicly praise Ranieri on social media.