With Leicester City currently languishing on 21 points near the foot of the Premier League table, the side's players now face the prospect of a dramatic wage cut should the team suffer relegation this season.

After making history last year to clinch a first top-flight title in their 133-year history, the Foxes have managed just five wins this season under Claudio Ranieri.

Following reports of changing room unrest and increasing alienation between players and manager, it's now emerged the club inserted wage-reduction clauses into their players' contracts in a preemptive move to mitigate the costs of relegation.

A whole host of players from Leicester's Premier League-winning side - including Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and Wes Morgan - were handed new contracts last summer, but while such individuals enjoyed considerable pay rises, it's understood clauses stipulating punitive pay cuts were included in the event of relegation.

Summer signings, such as Islam Slimani and January recruit Wilfred Ndidi, are also believed to agreed to similar terms, with the most severe stipulating a 40 per cent pay cut, The Times reports.

With just 21 points to their name, and one point separating the Foxes from the bottom three, the threat of relegation now appears to be a real possibility for Ranieri's champions.

But despite the Foxes' perilous position, the Italian's role as manager remains safe for now.

The club's owners stuck by former Nigel Pearson two seasons ago as the side went on to avoid relegation and it's expected the Srivaddhanaprabha family will stand by Ranieri in a similar show of loyalty.

However, although the Italian will be handed time to engineer a recovery, the owners' patience will not last forever. As Leicester did two seasons ago, the East Midlands team must now recreate the same spirit and fight which saw them escape the drop in 2015.

The Foxes travel to Swansea on Sunday in a key clash with the prospect of all three points on offer at the Liberty Stadium.

Prior to that, Leicester face Championship promotion chasers Derby County in an FA Cup replay at the King Power Stadium on Wednesday night.

Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Show all 22 1 /22 Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Kasper Schmeichel – 4 out of 10 The goalkeeper was a victim of United’s prolific strike force. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Danny Simpson – 5 out of 10 Caught out of position regularly and struggled to keep up with the winger's pace. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Wes Morgan – 6 out of 10 Kept Rashford relatively quiet, but was too motionless at times. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Robert Huth – 5 out of 10 His lack of pace allowed United’s forwards to burst through the defence on several occasions. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Christian Fuchs – 4 out of 10 Too static throughout and lacked effort. Though, he made a good tackle at the end to deny Mkhitaryan. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Danny Drinkwater – 4 out of 10 Certainly needs some shooting practice – wasted far too many chances in front of goal. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Wilfred Ndidi – 6 out of 10 Read the game well and caused United a problem when he ran with the ball. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Riyad Mahrez – 6 out of 10 When he received the ball, he made a nuisance of himself and looked confident in possession. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Shinji Okazaki – 4 out of 10 Saw very little of the ball – subbed at half time. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Ahmed Musa - 5 out of 10 Enticed a number of fouls from United, but these set pieces were usually wasted. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Jamie Vardy – 5 out of 10 Held the ball up well at times, but lacked so service so he failed to make an impact. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings David De Gea – 5 out of 10 A very quiet afternoon for the keeper, with few chances coming his way. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Antonio Valencia – 7 out of 10 Created a number of United moves and assisted Ibrahimovic’s goal. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Eric Bailly – 6 out of 10 A disciplined display – remained relatively untested throughout. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Chris Smalling – 7 out of 10 Was a rock at the back today and assisted Mkhitaryan’s goal. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Marcos Rojo – 5 out of 10 Gave away a number of unnecessary fouls. Subbed at half time. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Juan Mata – 6 out of 10 Deserved his goal, but he was arguably lucky to remain on the pitch after his sliding challenge that earnt him a yellow. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Ander Herrera – 6 out of 10 It was a mediocre display by a man of such ability. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Paul Pogba – 6 out of 10 Aside from the occasional burst forward, he did not have a huge impact on the United attacks. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 8 out of 10 He looked at home in the number 10 role. Read the game well, worked relentlessly and deserved his goal. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Marcus Rashford – 6 out of 10 Missed a great chance early in the first half. Was kept relatively quiet for the majority. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Zlatan Ibrahimovic – 7 out of 10 Bagged his 20th goal of the season, created chances and made a nuisance of himself throughout.

Although attention may be fixed on Sunday’s clash, defender Danny Simpson insists a win over Derby could prove a turning point in their season of struggle.

“It’s a big game and I don’t think you should write it off because of what is going on in the league,” he said. “I want to play on Wednesday, we need a win. Whoever plays, I think it’s a game we can progress in and give us a bit of confidence.

“We need fight, spirit, luck. We haven’t had that but we can’t keep saying that. We are conceding goals we don’t normally concede, if we are honest with that.