Enzo Maresca has left the club in a very difficult position having taken the vacant Chelsea job following steering Leicester City to the Championship title.
That decision has left the Foxes managerless as they prepare for a return to the Premier League, with fans hopeful of a swift resolution so that they can look ahead to the new era.
A number of names have been linked with the vacancy, with Leicester an attractive prospect despite PSR concerns and the club being unlikely to spend huge amounts of money on assembling a Premier League ready squad.
The likes of Carlos Corberan, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have all been mentioned, but Football Insider have revealed that the Leicester hierarchy have now picked their two lead candidates.
Graham Potter Leicester City’s preferred manager option
According to Football Insider sources, Leicester have made Steve Cooper and Graham Potter their top choices for their vacant manager position.
Both coaches have recent Premier League experience, with Potter managing Brighton and Chelsea and Cooper managing Nottingham Forest.
Both were sacked by their last clubs, with Potter relieved of the seemingly impossible job of managing Todd Boehly’s stockpile of players and Cooper replaced by Nuno Espírito Santo in December with Forest facing a relegation battle.
Cooper does have the disadvantage of his association with Leicester’s rivals, Forest, and things could quickly turn sour if the Welshman started badly.
Football Insider have confirmed that their source has revealed that, of the two out of work managers, Potter is the slight favourite.
‘Genius’ Potter needs convincing Leicester job is right for him
The problem Leicester may encounter is that it is no secret that Potter has aspirations of managing England and if he bides his time that job could become available after this summer’s European Championships.
However, it is never a good sign for a manager to be out of work too long in an industry in which you can quickly be forgotten.
Having been sacked by Chelsea in April 2023, Potter has had over a year away and has turned down a number of approaches for jobs in that time.
It is likely the 49-year-old won’t want his footballing hiatus to continue much longer and a chance to prove himself once again with a Leicester squad full of talent may be enough to convince him to make the move to the East Midlands club.
Potter’s greatest strength is his tactical flexibility, with the former Swansea City coach rarely sticking with one formation.
His ability to develop players both individually and collectively through his coaching make him a really exciting manager and one unnamed Swansea player told The Athletic in 2020 that Potter is a “genius”.
The player went on to explain: “Sometimes we’d go into meetings with him and it was like you were back in school. I felt like I was learning something.
”The formation; he would expect you to be able to change not just week-to-week — during games, also. A lot of players ended up playing in positions they’d never played in before, and in formations that we’d never played in before.
“We would go out and pass teams off the park. It was so enjoyable to play under him.”
A glowing reference, it appears Leicester will do everything in their power to convince Potter to replace Maresca at the King Power.
