Transfers: N'golo Kante and Riyad Mahrez set to leave Leicester: Will key duo spark break-up?

N’Golo Kante, a combative midfielder who can turn defence into attack almost at will, is destined for Chelsea with a £32m fee apparently agreed between the Premier League clubs, according to media reports while the much-vaunted Mahrez could join their London rivals Arsenal, a club who already tried and failed to finalise terms with Jamie Vardy during the Euro 2016 finals.

While the England forward Vardy, scorer of 24 league goals last season, signed an extension with Leicester, at least Arsene Wenger knows Mahrez is on the market after various reports this morning claimed the Algerian forward has rejected the offer of a contract extension.

Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain have also been linked with him. Mahrez was signed for £400,000 from Le Havre in 2014, but scored 17 goals and enjoyed 11 assists in winning the PFA Player of the Year award. He is likely to be worth around £35m, but that won't dissuade the bids from coming in.

Difficult to argue that won’t be a completely different and much less potent unit without these two. How can you possibly replace such figures? It looked like there was a possibility Leicester might retain their key men when Vardy spurned the chance to join Arsenal by signing a new contract at the King Power Stadium, but Kante and Mahrez are not of a similar mind.

No matter how much money Leicester collect from the sales, perhaps over £70m, they might not be able to attract players of a similar calibre with such funds despite having the lure of Champions League football. If there is a choice between Leicester or a blue-chip Premier League club, the champions will have to get in the queue.

The natural order of English football has not changed that much which is proven by Kante's willingness to swap champions Leicester for a Chelsea that limped home in 10th spot last season.

Absolutely not. The Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri said last season that he would not stand in the way of any of his players if they wanted to better themselves. They managed to keep their main protagonists in the January transfer window, but it was always going to be difficult to prevent them moving during the summer.

That may sound depressing, but the power is all with the players these days. There is only so much a club can do to keep a player who wants to move on.

Leicester remain an unfashionable outpost in comparison to places like Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, who not only offer Champions League football, but the chance to win such a tournament.

The worry now for Leicester is who goes next? This could easily develop into a Southampton situation from a few seasons ago with Kasper Schmeichel, Wes Morgan, Robert Huth, Danny Drinkwater, Shinji Okazak, Danny Simpson and Christain Fuchs, in fact all of Leicester's title-winning squad, all likely to attract admiring glances.

With such success, comes potential suitors. It will be up to Leicester to convince the rest of their squad that the grass is not greener away from the King Power. It is just a pity for Leicester fans that the dream season has been followed by the nightmare reality of football in the modern era.

Little wonder Ranieri said that last season was Leicester's one chance to win the Premier League. He knew what was coming a few months ago.