Leicester City are in advanced talks with the former Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper with a view to an appointment this week.

The 44-year-old has been out of work since he left Forest in December having brought the club up from the Championship and kept them in the Premier League in their first season. Leicester face a potentially significant points deduction over profit and sustainability breaches and a challenging first season back in the Premier League.

The club consider Cooper to be by far the best option for the season, and are optimistic that they can survive despite obvious obstacles. They lost Enzo Maresca to Chelsea last month with the Italian having won promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt. Cooper is a free agent having been dismissed by Forest.

The Welshman was the club’s first choice with the kind of experience that sporting director Jon Rudkin and owner Aiyawatt “Top” Srivaddhanaprabha consider to be crucial. Cooper oversaw a memorable Forest survival season in 2022-2023 when the club underwent huge changes to its playing staff after promotion and still survived in the division with a game left to play.

Previously he had taken over a Forest side that was struggling in last place in the Championship and oversaw a dizzying rise that ended in promotion in May 2022 via the play-off final. Before that, he had reached the play-offs twice with Swansea City. With Maresca gone and a squad in need of galvanising and reshaping, albeit under some likely severe financial constraints, Cooper is considered the prime candidate to make the changes needed.

Leicester were impressed by the way in which he managed to unite the Forest squad in their first Premier League season despite 24 new signings in the summer alone. Leicester’s strategy is not likely to be quite so dramatic but will require a coach able to make swift decisions and with a high level of adaptability.

Cooper will require a full backroom staff after six coaches departed with Maresca to Chelsea. Alan Tate, the former Swansea defender, was Cooper’s assistant at Forest while head of performance Steve Rands has also been a regular member of his team at previous clubs.

More to follow...