After providing an explanation for their choice of Steve Cooper over Graham Potter, Leicester City is nearing the employment of the Welshman. It is expected that the Welshman’s first acquisition will be a £12 million Tottenham player who is also coveted by Leeds.
After just one season at the King Power Stadium, promotion-winning manager Enzo Maresca left the Foxes in need of a new manager after being enticed to London to take over as Chelsea’s manager in lieu of Mauricio Pochettino. And earlier this month, Leicester narrowed their wishlist to only three names after being connected to several possible prospects.
In fact, although Graham Potter and Carlos Corberan were taken into consideration, the West Brom manager was passed up because of the amount of money needed in compensation to remove him from The Hawthorns.
Furthermore, Leicester is tight for cash and has had to sell some of its best players in order to comply with Profit and Sustainability Rules. For this reason, the club thought it wiser to concentrate on individuals who are now unemployed.
After having long discussions with Potter over the past several days, the former manager of Brighton and Chelsea had seemed destined for the position; the 49-year-old had made the decision to join the Foxes despite the job’s apparent severe difficulty.
TEAMtalk has learned, nevertheless, that the Foxes administration has suddenly changed its mind and decided to choose Cooper, the former manager of Nottingham Forest.
Since leaving the City Ground in December, the Welshman has not had a job. Despite this, the 44-year-old’s reputation is still high after leading the Tricky Trees from the Championship’s lower divisions into the Premier League and then making sure they were safe in their first season back during a remarkably successful 27 months in charge.
Reasons favoring Cooper over Potter revealed for the next Leicester manager
According to TEAMtalk, the East Midlands team now hopes to complete Cooper’s appointment by Friday. They want Cooper in place by the time the players report back for pre-season training and in time to influence their summer transfer intentions.
When Cooper takes over at the King Power, his only task will be to maintain Leicester in the Premier League.
That won’t be an easy chore, though, considering their financial ties and the FFP regulations they are now attempting to go by. There are also rumors that they might still lose points for breaking the rules.
In fact, Cooper’s selection in a Premier League dogfight is evident as he led Forest to victory in their first season back among the elite since 1999. Potter’s early reluctance to accept the position did not aid his situation either.
Even though Cooper left the City Ground with a mere 38.89% winning percentage, his attempts to transform their home field into a stronghold and the camaraderie he fostered within the team made him the perfect choice.
In light of this, it has been determined that Cooper is the most qualified person to guide Leicester through what many within the team believe will be an extremely challenging season, one in which they will begin as heavy favorites to be relegated.
Cooper’s efforts to turn their home field into a bastion and the team spirit he instilled made him the ideal candidate, even if he left the City Ground with a meager 38.89% winning rate.
That being said, Cooper has been deemed the most qualified player to lead Leicester through what many in the team anticipate to be a very difficult season, one in which they will start as strong favorites to be relegated.
Leeds also suffered play-off final heartache with Southampton edging them out 1-0 at Wembley, consigning the West Yorkshire side to another year of Championship football. Nonetheless, they do still hope to make Rodon’s signing permanent this summer, with TEAMtalk aware the player himself remains open to a potential stay. However, Leeds’ presence in the second tier means they will likely miss out on Rodon, with Ipswich and Southampton among those to have been linked.
The Foxes are now prepared to move as well, and if a £10 million to £12 million deal is reached, Spurs are unlikely to go in the way of him.
Alasdair Gold, a Tottenham expert, has revealed that Rodon would most likely choose one of the three new Premier League players.
He is being pursued by Southampton, Leicester, and Ipswich, the three promoted clubs. As we previously mentioned, Leicester does not currently have a manager. Nevertheless, their recruitment team really likes him, and if Graham Potter were to come in, he had previously worked with him at Swansea, so I imagine he would be pretty happy with that as a potential purchase as well. He made these remarks on the Gold and Guest Tottenham podcast.
Furthermore, Leicester has now chosen to use Cooper
