Leicester City has appointed Marti Cifuentes as their new manager following the departure of Ruud van Nistelrooy after a brief tenure. Cifuentes, 43, of the former Queens Park Rangers, takes over the new Los Angeles franchise. So too are they for the start of the Championship season, which kicks off on August 10 with a home fixture against Sheffield Wednesday.
Cifuentes’ appointment follows a summer of question marks about his future in charge. At the end of June he was put on gardening leave, leaving just 3 weeks until he had to make a call on his next step. Cifuentes was in discussions with West Bromwich Albion regarding their head coach position. Yet, he didn’t get the job, and Ryan Mason got the job instead.
Leicester City secured Cifuentes’ services by paying a £500,000 compensation fee to Queen’s Park Rangers. In a controversial move, Cifuentes chose to go outside the box. He raised a further £250,000 towards the fee himself by forgoing a portion of his salary and signing-on payment from Leicester. This contract indicates that he is ready to take charge of the Foxes. They are hell bent on recovering from the embarrassment of being relegated last season to the second tier Championship.
Cifuentes replaces Ruud van Nistelrooy, who left the club after just seven months at the helm. He now leads the way on one of the most intriguing squads that will face scrutiny this summer. According to The Telegraph, Leicester will have to cash in a number of players before they are able to bring in any new recruits. This makes the new manager’s job harder as he tries to improve the team.
Cifuentes will begin his tenure with a home match against Sheffield Wednesday. After that, he’ll be facing Huddersfield and Preston, both away. He would then take charge of the team for key home games against Charlton and Birmingham. Cifuentes will have the opportunity in those first few fixtures to really make a mark. His objective is to create an upbeat note for the session to come.
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