Leicester appoint Marti Cifuentes to replace Ruud van Nistelrooy

New York Times

a day ago

Leicester City have appointed former Queens Park Rangers head coach Marti Cifuentes as Ruud van Nistelrooy's replacement.
Leicester parted ways with Van Nistelrooy in June, a month after the conclusion of the Premier League season.
Cifuentes was placed on gardening leave by QPR before the final game of the Championship season in April before leaving the club by mutual consent last month.
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He joined QPR from Swedish club Hammarby in October 2023 and helped keep them up in both his seasons in charge, and has subsequently been replaced at Loftus Road by former Rennes head coach Julien Stephan.
Van Nistelrooy only replaced Steve Cooper in November but managed to win just four of his 24 matches in charge as Leicester were relegated in April with five games to spare.
The Leicester job was the Dutchman's first permanent managerial position since he left PSV Eindhoven at the end of the 2022-23 season.
He had taken charge of former club Manchester United on an interim basis following the sacking of Erik ten Hag in October, winning three of four games, including twice against Leicester.
Cooper took over last summer following Enzo Maresca's move to Chelsea but was sacked in November after just 12 Premier League games.
Leicester begin the new Championship season at home to Sheffield Wednesday on August 10.
Analysis by Jordan Halford
Marti Cifuentes joins Leicester City just over 12 weeks since their relegation back to the Championship was confirmed and with the club amidst one of, if not, the most tumultuous period in their 141-year history.
The 43-year-old arrives at the King Power with the club facing a potential points deduction and/or transfer embargo from the Football League (EFL) and the likelihood of having to offload several high earners if he is to make additions to his squad.
Leicester are still reeling from their second relegation in three years, with plenty still needing to be sorted out just 31 days out from the start of the season against Sheffield Wednesday. The club still haven't released any of this season's kits.
Leicester will begin life after Jamie Vardy, widely regarded as the club's greatest ever player, this season but the Spanish coach will, however, inherit a large bulk of the squad that won the Championship title in 2022-23 under Enzo Maresca.
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Exciting young winger Abdul Fatawu is likely to return from his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury that kept him out of the majority of his debut Premier League campaign, while the club have a sizeable crop of academy prospects such as Ben Nelson, Olabade Aluko, Will Alves, Jeremy Monga, Louis Page and Jake Evans who will be pushing for first-team football.
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