Cifuentes confirmed as Leicester manager

Leicester City have named former Queens Park Rangers head coach Marti Cifuentes as their new manager on a three-year deal.

The 43-year-old Spaniard replaces Ruud van Nistelrooy at the Foxes’ helm with less than a month until the season starts.

Cifuentes takes charge of a Leicester side that finds itself in the Championship for the second time in three years, having been immediately relegated from the Premier League after going up as second-tier title winners under Enzo Maresca in 2024.

Cifuentes now joins Maresca, who left Leicester after promotion to take the job at Chelsea, as one of the six permanent managers the Foxes have had in just over two years.

Just as the Italian was tasked with returning the East Midlands club to the top flight during his tenure, promotion will also be expected of Cifuentes.

In his time at QPR, the Spaniard, for whom the Foxes will pay Rangers an undisclosed compensation fee, oversaw 18th and 15th-placed finishes.

Leicester say they feel the Spaniard will bring “a modern, progressive footballing philosophy” to the club, while chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha says that Cifuentes “is an excellent fit”.

“We felt strongly that bringing him to the club would help us to create the success we all want in the years ahead,” Srivaddhanaprabha added.

Cifuentes took charge of QPR when they were second-from-bottom in the Championship in October 2023 and escaping relegation was first asked of him at Loftus Road.

At the time, Cifuentes was also being linked to a move away from the west London club.

It was not until late June, two months after being stood down, that the former Hammarby boss officially parted ways with QPR.

He was seen as a popular figure among Hoops fans, but was also viewed as a head coach that only got “streaky” results out of his side.

His appointment at Leicester, however, is seen a shift back to Maresca’s approach to the game, with the Spaniard sharing the Italian’s possession-heavy, high-pressing style.

Cifuentes has described taking on the job at the King Power Stadium as “a great honour”.

“This is a fantastic club with a proud history and it’s a privilege to me to be asked to help write the next chapter,” he said.

Cifuentes has had eclectic coaching career to date, with a spell working at Ajax’s famed youth academy in the Netherlands in 2007 followed by a stint at Millwall, before he went on to coach in Spain’s lower leagues.