Southampton in talks with key Leicester City man

Southampton are in talks with Leicester City’s head of recruitment, Eduardo Macia, according to French outlet Sud Ouest.

After the departure of Les Reed, the Saints’ vice-president, they are looking for a complete change of the backroom staff, and Macia’s appointment is a part of that change.

Macia, who was Real Betis’ director of football prior to his appointment at Leicester in 2016, had looked set to take over the same role at Bordeaux, with La Journal du Dimanche claiming that the deal was 99% done. 1%, of course, is a massive figure in football.

There might still be a twist or two left in this one, but it’s inevitable that the former Liverpool chief scout will be on his way out – and with him, one of the last vestiges of the Claudio Ranieri era.

Which, by the way, reminds us that the Italian is now Fulham’s new boss after they sacked Slavisa Jokanovic, Ranieri’s first signing at Chelsea. The ex-Foxes boss will have Mark Hughes’ Southampton first up before a daunting trip to his old home, Stamford Bridge.

The game back home a week later won’t be easy either, as Leicester visit the Craven Cottage to make matters just a bit more emotionally complicated for Ranieri. Will Claude Puel and company rock the Lillywhites – a common sighting these days – or will Leicester be “dilly-donged”?

Well, we’ll have to wait for another four weeks to find out. Before that, however, we have Brighton and Hove Albion (A), Southampton in the Carabao Cup (H) and Watford (H) to tackle.