Leicester City are targeting a manager with a 63% win rate in England

Leicester City are looking for a new head coach following the departure of Enzo Maresca to Premier League giants Chelsea this week, but have set their sights on another Italian manager, according to reports.

The Foxes were relegated from the Premier League last season in unprecedented fashion and the board took a risk in appointing Maresca, whose only previous head coaching stint ended rather disappointingly with an unsuccessful spell at Parma in Serie B.

Maresca was most recently Pep Guardiola’s assistant coach at Manchester City last season when the Citizens lifted the treble, the first time a team in English football had achieved the feat since Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United in 1999.

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However, the decision to name Guardiola’s number ‘2’ as the main man at the King Power Stadium proved correct. Maresca led Leicester City to promotion at the first time of asking, playing some scintillating football along the way, while lifting the Championship title in the process.

As a result, the 44-year-old was poached by Chelsea following Mauricio Pochettino’s recent departure from Stamford Bridge, leaving the Foxes without a head coach before the transfer window opens in less than two weeks.

Now the hierarchy is scouring the market to find a replacement for Maresca and preparing a new appointment in Italy. According to Alfredo Pedulla, via Get Football News Italy, Leicester are interested in bringing Maurizio Sarri to the club and have made a thorough inquiry for the former Chelsea, Juventus and Napoli boss, who was released from his duties at Lazio in March.

Sarri managed just one season in English football in the 2018/19 campaign with the Blues, where he guided the team to third place in the Premier League and won the UEFA Europa League final in Baku against bitter rivals Arsenal. Meanwhile, he boasted a 63% win rate during his ten months at Stamford Bridge.

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Coincidentally, the last time Sarri was in England, Chelsea’s side failed to beat Leicester City over two games. The Foxes won 1-0 at Stamford Bridge through a second-half Jamie Vardy strike before earning a goalless draw at home in the reverse fixture.

The 65-year-old has plenty of experience in football, managing big clubs and plays a similar style of football to Maresca. Although he has often proved to be quite a confrontational and controversial figure during his managerial career, it could be argued that Sarri could take Leicester back to the heights they rose to a few seasons ago.

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