A world championship-winning manager has been named as Leicester City’s new manager.

Leicester are considering hiring Steven Gerrard as their next manager to replace Dean Smith, as Foxes begin to rebuild after relegation to the Championship

Leicester are weighing up a move for Steven Gerrard to be their next head coach 

The ex-England star has not been in management since his time at Aston Villa 

The Foxes are thinking ahead before their Championship season commences 

Leicester are giving consideration to offering Steven Gerrard a route back into management as they begin the process of rebuilding following their relegation from the Premier League.

The former Liverpool and England captain was sacked by Aston Villa last October after less than a year in the post, with the club struggling in the lower reaches of the table.

A poor start to the 2022-23 campaign persuaded club bosses to replace him with Unai Emery, who then guided Villa to a place in next season’s Europa Conference League.

Yet in 2021 he led Rangers to their first Scottish league title since 2011, ending Celtic’s bid to achieve 10 in a row, and did a solid job initially at Villa, leading them to a comfortable mid-table finish. That has placed him in the running to lead Leicester back to the top flight.

Leicester appointed Dean Smith to replace the sacked Brendan Rodgers in April but Smith – who was also in charge at Villa before Gerrard’s appointment – could not lead them to top-flight survival.

Smith held discussions with Foxes chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha and director of football Jon Rudkin last week, while Leicester has also considered Scott Parker – who led Fulham and Bournemouth to promotion – and former Juventus midfielder Enzo Maresca, who is currently part of Pep Guardiola’s coaching staff at Manchester City.

Gerrard is also believed to have held talks with Leeds since the end of the campaign. Like Leicester, Leeds has dropped into the Championship and is looking for a new manager following Sam Allardyce’s departure.

Leicester’s first choice to succeed Rodgers was Graham Potter, but the former Brighton boss took a break after being shown the door by Chelsea and would have to be persuaded to accept a job in the second tier.

Meanwhile, Tom Cairney has emerged as one of Leicester’s early transfer targets. The midfielder has a year left on his contract at Fulham and is a proven performer in the Championship.