Dean Smith, a former manager of Brentford, Aston Villa, and Norwich, is about to be hired by Leicester City on an interim basis through the end of the current campaign.
The Foxes fired Brendan Rodgers after a last-second 2-1 loss to Crystal Palace on April 1, but under interim managers Adam Sadler and Mike Stowell, they lost to Villa and relegation rivals Bournemouth in their last two Premier League games.
They currently occupy the bottom half of the standings, 19th, and have just eight games left to prevent what would be a disastrous relegation to the Championship.
Smith was fired from his previous position as Norwich City manager in December, but sources have told 90min that a deal to bring him back to the Premier League is close to being agreed upon. Under that deal, Craig Shakespeare, the former manager of Leicester, would serve as Smith's assistant at the King Power Stadium.
Shakespeare was a former member of Claudio Ranieri's Premier League championship winning staff, and the two previously worked together at Carrow Road and Aston Villa.
Jesse Marsch, a former manager of Leeds, had been in the running to take over at Leicester, but 90min claimed on Sunday that negotiations had broken down over long-term guarantees the American was looking for in the event the club was demoted from the top division.
Rafa Benitez has also spoken to Leicester about the position, although it's believed that the Spanish coach has never been the team's top choice.
According to the information provided to 90min, Smith will be given a contract through the conclusion of the current season, after which a decision regarding whether or not to extend it will be taken. It may depend on Leicester's ability to recover from a dismal stretch of form that has put them in serious peril in order to avoid the drop.
In fact, Leicester has only earned one of the remaining 24 points available, and before the 2022–23 season is over, they still have games against Manchester City, Newcastle, and Liverpool.
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