TIME TO RETURN?
Graham Potter ‘leading contender’ for Premier League manager’s job as ex-Chelsea boss faces tricky decision over future
Top-flight newcomers hope former Brighton chief will consider joining shortlist
GRAHAM POTTER faces a big decision over his future after being eyed by a Premier League new boys Leicester.
The former Brighton chief has turned down other jobs since Chelsea sacked him in April 2023 after just seven months in charge.
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And even in the last few months the 49-year-old has been linked with Manchester United, whose minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is a big admirer, as well as Ajax.
But Potter dropped down the reported list of contenders for Old Trafford, then saw club chiefs stick with Erik ten Hag after an end-of-season review.
Now claim Leicester hope to persuade Potter to join a shortlist alongside West Brom boss Carlos Corberan.
The Championship winners lost Enzo Maresca to Chelsea this month.
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The Italian manager arrived at the King Power Stadium 12 months ago to take the Foxes straight back up to the Prem.
His departure has prompted Leicester owner Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha to reignite his long-term interest in Potter.
It's understood the Englishman turned the Foxes down in April 2023.
Instead Dean Smith came in until the end of the season but failed to avert relegation.
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Why Leicester fans WON'T miss Maresca
IT IS fair to say most Leicester fans were not exactly pleading with Maresca to stay, writes Graeme Bryce
OK, they were not queueing up and offering to drive him to Stamford Bridge.
But there will not be too many tears shed or much wailing at the King Power either.
The fans’ attitude to losing their incredibly successful boss could be summed up in a word: ‘Meh’.
Maresca failed to win over the paying public who never really took to his patient, possession-based style of football.
Having been brought up — some would say spoiled — by the swashbuckling title winners of 2016, with Jamie Vardy spearheading manager Claudio Ranieri’s shock champions, Maresca never really got off the ground at the King Power.
So it will be interesting to see what Chelsea’s notoriously impatient fans make of Maresca’s ‘death by a thousand cuts’ style of play.
It was not long before some of the old-school Leicester fans started moaning that Maresca’s patient, play-out-from-the-back style was becoming too boring to watch.
During a 3-1 win over Swansea which left them ten points clear at the top, there were moans and groans coming from the stands amid cries of, ‘Get the ball forward’.
Fans accused him of stubbornly sticking to his Plan A — even when it was not working — and claimed he was way too slow to make substitutions.
But one thing Blues fans can look forward to is his man-management and his attention to detail.
And the Foxes players also adored their manager.
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Maresca then landed the permanent Leicester role - with such success that he's replaced the axed Mauricio Pochettino at Stamford Bridge.
West Brom boss Corberan is regarded as a serious rival to Potter for the Foxes.
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The former Huddersfield and Olympiacos chief, 41, has impressed with both results and style of play since taking over at the Hawthorns in October 2022.
The Baggies even extended his contract until 2027 after he was linked to old club Leeds last year.
Leicester hope to have a managerial team in place quickly as they confront a testing time off the field.
The Foxes must deal with a Premier League charge over Financial Fair Play that could mean a points deduction if found guilty.
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