Marti Cifuentes is coming under heightened scrutiny in his role as head coach at Leicester City following their 3-2 home defeat to Sheffield United on Saturday, and the Foxes should be keeping one eye on Daniel Farke’s situation at Leeds United, in what could be a perfect opportunity for Leicester.
Flashback to May 2016, and Leicester City had just shocked the world to win the Premier League title, in what remains one of the greatest stories in sport. Five years later, the Foxes defeated Chelsea in the FA Cup final courtesy of a Youri Tielemans rocket, in what was the first FA Cup triumph in their history.
Yet just four years after that, the Foxes have been relegated from the Premier League twice, and now sit 16th in the Championship table after 18 matches, with the club in genuine danger of finishing outside the top six, in what would be their poorest league finish in over a decade.
Former Queens Park Rangers boss Marti Cifuentes was brought in over the summer to replace the outgoing Rudd van Nistelrooy, but his position is now looking untenable, with reports that the Spaniard is now on the brink of losing his role at the King Power Stadium sooner rather than later coming to the surface.
Leicester must have their eyes on potential successors already, with Cifuentes under increasing pressure, and they could do far worse than tracking Leeds United boss Daniel Farke as a possible candidate, should he lose his job with the Whites.
Leicester City should be monitoring Daniel Farke’s situation at Leeds United, as Marti Cifuentes’ position is in jeopardy:
Farke first arrived in English football when he was appointed head coach of Norwich City in May 2017 on a two-year contract, which he would guide to a 14th-placed finish in his debut season.
Despite an ultimately underwhelming campaign, Farke stayed in charge of the Canaries, which turned out to be a masterstroke, as the German led the club to the Championship title during the 2018/19 season.
Relegation from the Premier League followed, but another promotion with Norwich in the 2020/21 season gave him another chance at managing in the top flight, though he’d lose his job in November after a poor run of form.
Spells with Krasnodar in Russia and Borussia Monchengladbach in Germany came next, before he was appointed head coach of Leeds United in the summer of 2023, having been newly relegated from the Premier League themselves.
Having narrowly missed out on promotion in his first season at Elland Road, losing 1-0 to Southampton in the play-off final, Farke guided the Whites to promotion last season, winning the title on the final day and collecting 100 points in the process, though rumours of his dismissal just days after securing promotion soon emerged.
The German’s position with Leeds has never been entirely stable since promotion, and should he be removed by the Yorkshire club, Leicester should act instantly.
Farke’s three promotions from the Championship represent the second-best record of all time, behind only Steve Bruce and Neil Warnock, and level with Burnley’s Scott Parker, and the Foxes could do much worse than moving for Farke, in what could form a perfect storm for the club.