Leeds have been looking for a manager once more after last summer’s appointment Garry Monk departed from the club earlier in the week.
A number of names have been linked with the prestigious club and one of the the biggest has been the 2016 Premier League winning manager Claudio Ranieri, who ESPN claim is a “top target” for the Yorkshire giants.
The 65-year-old is currently without a club after being sacked from Leicester in February and here, This Is Futbol have identified three possible players who could follow Ranieri to Yorkshire if he does take charge.
Marcin Wasilewski
Wasilewski, 36, joined Leicester two years before Ranieri joined the club in 2013 and his time in the Midlands is now coming to an end with the powerful centre-back set to leave the Foxes when his contract expires next month. At his age there are doubts about whether he can still do it in the Premier League, but only last July Ranieri was hailing Wasilewski as “our spirit” and told that he urged the club’s owners and sporting director to sign the Poland international up to a new deal when it expired last summer. Now, if appointed as Leeds boss he could urge the Whites’ hierarchy to give Wasilewski a deal, especially now that it is looking unlikely that Kyle Bartley will return following Monk’s departure.
Tom Lawrence
Lawrence has been on the radar of Leeds fans for a while now after impressing on loan at Ipswich last season which saw him score 11 goals and 11 assists in 37 matches in all competitions. His parent Leicester however are unlikely to want to keep hold of him with his last competitve fixture for the Foxes coming all the way back in March 2015. Now, Lawrence described Ranieri’s sacking as a “strange one” and “very harsh” back in March, showing there is a good relationship between the player and manager and there would certainly be a possibility of the duo re-linking at Leeds in the summer.
Troy Deeney
Watford striker Deeney broke onto the Leeds radar after bookmakers Sky Bet suspended his betting last week. The powerful frontman has struggled at the Hertfordshire-based side this season and despite being the club captain he was occasionally left on the bench for the Hornets by ex-manager Walter Mazzarri. However, just last summer Ranieri was trying to bring Deeney to Leicester in a £25million deal. Now, if Leeds want to make a statement of intent this summer they could make a big money move for Deeney with Ranieri clearly a big fan alongside the club needing an alternative forward to Chris Wood.