Newcastle United’s Premier League rivals ‘undecided’ on Rafa Benitez and former Leeds boss as talks confirmed

Leicester City are said to be ‘undecided’ on the appointment of former Leeds United manager Jesse Marsch and are classing former Newcastle United bosses Sam Allardyce and Rafa Benitez as ‘plan B’ options.

The Foxes are languishing in the Premier League relegation zone after suffering successive home defeats against Aston Villa and fellow strugglers Bournemouth in the aftermath of Brendan Rodgers’ departure from the King Power Stadium. Former Newcastle coach Adam Sadler has been put in temporary control of first-team affairs but there was heavy speculation over the weekend suggesting Marsch was in line to take over in the near future.

However, The Athletic’s David Ornstein has revealed no final decision has been made over a successor to Rodgers and gave an insight into how the Foxes board view a move for an experienced interim manager such as Benitez or Allardyce.

“Undecided is he word coming from Leicester City today,” he told NBC Sports on Sunday. “It’s nine games without a win, eight in the Premier League with only one draw in that process. The big mistake Leicester seem to have made was sacking Brendan Rodgers without a replacement lined up. That meant they turned to Plan A, which was their interim team of Adam Sadler and Mike Stowell hoping they would get a lift from the squad. That hasn’t happened. Plan B was a temporary solution of maybe Rafa Benitez or Sam Allardyce. That hasn’t come to fruition so Plan C is a permanent manager. Graham Potter wants a break and we don’t know if he would even come to Leicester.

“Attention turned to Jesse Marsch and there have been talks with Leicester. He was close to joining Southampton but that deal collapsed. He’s thought to have impressed Leicester in talks in terms of his vision and tactics. It’s got quite a negative reception though with even Gary Lineker questioning it on Twitter. As things stand Jesse Marsch has not been confirmed and we don’t know if he will get the position.”

Leicester are back in action on Saturday evening when they visit Premier League title contenders Manchester City and are scheduled to visit Newcastle on the penultimate weekend of the season.