A relatively young and certainly emerging former Premier League boss could be in place at Leicester City Football Club's King Power Stadium for 2025/26. That's if reports on the Foxes' supposedly upcoming managerial search are accurate. At present, Ruud van Nistelrooy remains in the City dugout so you could argue that any of this speculation is pointless.
However, reputable reporters claim that the Dutchman will be dismissed by the LCFC board as 2024/25 comes to an end. Therefore the hearsay over who might perhaps replace van Nistelrooy is technically crucial. The East Midlands outfit would probably be best served to sack the ex-Manchester United player and appoint an appropriate manager ahead of a Championship return.
I see RvN's position as untenable after this season's demoralising run. And, while two good aspects of van Nistelrooy's guidance are notable (ridding himself of unwanted players and blooding in youth stars), a whole lot of negativity surrounds his City tenure. Anyway, by my count approximately five men are linked with taking over the top Foxes job.
Meanwhile the latest person reported to have joined the apparent candidates wishlist is a one-time gaffer of one of Leicester's Midlands rivals. Is this new talk realistic?
Emerging ex-Premier League boss Gary O’Neill is latest to join Leicester City head coach candidates
Could someone associated with Wolverhampton Wanderers take over at Leicester City? Yes, absolutely. As we recently saw with ex-Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper's appointment on Filbert Way, connections such as these don't really impact business.
Albeit, according to uninformed fans of clubs to whom we are fairly close in proximity - LCFC have no rivalries. Obviously this misguided view is often touted on social media in an attempt to irritate the Blue Army. We don't bite, we just enjoy it even more when we defeat their teams.
But back to O'Neil, what's the word on the likelihood of him joining? I must admit, before it went downhill at Wolves he was doing some innovative things.
"Ruud van Nistelrooy looks unlikely to be in charge of Leicester City in the Championship next season, with Gary O’Neil tipped to take charge instead. Speaking live on talkSPORT (8 May, 5:23pm), [Robert] Huth said: “I’d like to see a young, British manager given a chance. Gary O’Neil is free at the moment, Russell Martin is free, but there is no one-way ticket to going back up"Football Insider