Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester fairy tale may have come to an ignominious end in the soulless surrounds of a Radisson Blu hotel next to East Midlands Airport hotel on Thursday, but the origins of his demise can be traced to a scorching hot Californian afternoon last July.

Leicester’s trip to Los Angeles to participate in the International Champions Cup had already threatened to turn sour, with players grumbling about the 11-hour flight and Ranieri appearing unusually jaded and irritable throughout the trip.

Yet arguably the most telling sign that all was not well with the club who had been crowned English champions for the first time two months previously came when owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and another senior board member bizarrely decided to monitor a training session from high chairs. It was a telling symbol of a club struggling to adjust to its new lofty status, and one suddenly under a level of scrutiny and expectation unprecedented in its 133-year history.