Russell Martin, at one stage in developments, looked nailed on to be Leicester City's next manager.
Indeed, everything was pointing in the direction of the ex-Southampton boss being the successor to Gary Rowett, after weeks of speculation as to who would finally replace the underwhelming manager.
Now, however, it isn't a foregone conclusion that the Championship promotion-winning head coach will be stepping into the King Power hot-seat, with a new name emerging when it comes to the race to succeed Rowett, in ex-Manchester United assistant manager Rene Hake.
If Martin is handed the reins, despite this last-minute development, he would love to work alongside Ben Nelson at the relegated Foxes, with the former centre-back turned manager working with some top-notch defenders throughout his managerial career to date.
Martin would love to work alongside Nelson
Martin worked alongside some great ball-playing centre-backs when taking charge of Milton Keynes Dons, Swansea City, and Southampton in the EFL.
At both Stadium MK and when managing in Wales, Martin would rely on Harry Darling as a guaranteed first-team talent in the heart of defence, with Southampton's promotion-winning heroics at the end of the 2023/24 season remembered for Taylor Harwood-Bellis being a rock-solid performer in defence, as well.
With Martin likely to storm into the building at the Foxes and want to play a possession-heavy style, Nelson could be the ideal centre-back presence to build his new defence around.
Even with relegation occurring at the close of last season, the 22-year-old still stood out as an exciting asset for the future, with an 82% pass accuracy averaged, even when games became scrappy towards the foot of the intense division.
Winning 4.7 duels on average, too, he might just be the perfect battling, but composed presence, who would thrive in a promotion tussle.
Martin will be hoping he can keep Nelson around, if he does fill the Leicester vacancy shortly, but the one-time Oxford United loanee could be a hard player to keep rooted at the King Power.
Leicester could struggle to keep Nelson around
Nelson's promising performances have, unfortunately, not slipped under the radar, with reports suggesting that Manchester United could be prepared to gamble on the young defender during the summer transfer window.
It will be interesting to see if the promising number four stays put at the King Power in League One, knowing he will be gifted more gametime, or whether the pull of a Red Devils move, will be too tempting to turn down.
For a rising star who has only tasted 78 senior games, after breaking into the senior Foxes ranks in 2020, he could well prefer the third-tier route over treading down the more glamorous path, with Martin well-known for getting more out of the encouraging centre-back talents.
Indeed, while Harwood-Bellis has undoubtedly gone on to excel at St. Mary's past Martin's stint in charge, the Stockport-born warrior must look back on his spell with the Scotsman in charge and deem that as a formative and helpful experience that has allowed him to be the feared defender he is today, with a move to Premier League newboys Hull City on the horizon.
A lot remains up in the air at Leicester this off-season, with no-one quite knowing if Martin is going to be announced soon, or whether Nelson will stay put.
The hope will be that all this uncertainty is resolved soon, with Leicester's League One season kicking off not a million miles away, after the World Cup has concluded.
Add us as a preferred source on Google