Leicester close in on hiring new manager who has already been sacked by Championship relegation rivals

Feb 16, 2026 - 18:30

Leicester City are in talks with Gary Rowett over their manager’s role, talkSPORT understands.

The Foxes are still searching for a replacement for Marti Cifuentes, having sacked the Spaniard at the end of January.

Gary Rowett during his spell at Birmingham

Ex-Oxford United boss Rowett is set to become the next Leicester manager[/caption]

And it now appears that Rowett will be taking the hot seat at the King Power Stadium with talkSPORT reporting that he was being considered for the role last month.

talkSPORT understands that the Leicester squad are braced for Rowett being their next coach.

Since sacking Cifuentes, Leicester have been deducted six points and have now dropped into the Championship’s relegation zone.

It means the former Premier League champions are facing the real possibility of dropping down to League One this season.

But Rowett has been chosen to be the man to try and save them, having impressively kept Oxford United in the Championship last term.

He is in negotiations over a short-term deal until the end of the campaign.

Rowett is a free agent after being sacked by Oxford in December, with the U’s sitting 21st in the Championship at the time.

The 51-year-old is a former Leicester player, having featured 57 times for the Foxes between 2000 and 2002.

And he will now be returning to try and save the club from relegation to the third tier for the first time since 2009.

Another former player in Andy King has been in interim charge since Cifuentes’ sacking, leading Leicester for the last four games. King’s side have lost all four of those outings though, being beaten in three straight league matches as well as getting knocked out of the FA Cup.

Gary Rowett during his time in charge of Oxford — Rowett was sacked by Oxford in December and has been a free agent since

Leicester City interim manager Andy King — Foxes legend King has been in interim charge for the last four games, but it’s not going well for him

Rowett on Leicester

Speaking last week, Rowett appeared not to see himself in contention for the Leicester job, predicting an ‘ambitious’ appointment.

“I think they’ll make a change as well, managerial-wise,” he said on Sky Sports. “I think they’ll be really ambitious with their next appointment.

“If they are in the top six, I think it’s a very different appeal to the job.

“But when you look at their training ground, when you look at the size of the club, I think there’ll be a hell of a lot of managers who’ll be looking at that job thinking, ‘I can get them out of trouble’.

“Then it’s what’s next for that opportunity and I don’t think there are many jobs that come around like that in the Championship.

“That’s why I’m saying I think there’ll be a really ambitious appointment for the next one and I’d expect them to make that quite soon.”

Leicester City owner, Aiyawatt Srivhaddhanaprabha — Leicester have found a replacement for Cifuentes amid their major struggles

Switching destination

Rowett was also a contender to become the new Blackburn manager, following the sacking of Valerien Ismael.

talkSPORT understands that the experienced Championship boss, who has taken charge of over 400 matches, was one of the options to take over at the Rovers.

But they appointed Michael O’Neill instead and the former Birmingham City, Stoke, Derby and Millwall manager is still available.

Leicester face one of Rowett’s ex-clubs, Stoke, on Saturday lunchtime, before facing a tough trip to Middlesbrough on Tuesday February 24.

They currently sit 22nd in the table and one point from safety with 14 games left to play this season.