Leicester interviewed several candidates for the position that has been held on a temporary basis for the past two matches by Michael Appleton, who will revert to his assistant’s role. Puel will be introduced to the media on Friday and will take charge of Sunday’s home match against Everton, who are without a full-time manager.
Puel was let go by Southampton in June despite leading the club to an eighth-placed finish in the Premier League and the final of the Capital One Cup. Southampton flopped in the Europa League and decent domestic results were deemed not good enough to compensate for a style of play that many supporters decried as too defensive. Several players disliked his rotation policy. Puel told French media he was let go “for a little bit more than sporting reasons”.
Puel, who has since been without a club, impressed Leicester during more than one set of talks. “Upon meeting Claude, his attention to detail, knowledge of our squad, understanding of our potential and his vision to help us realise it were extremely impressive,” Srivaddhanaprabha said. “He quickly emerged as the outstanding candidate.”
The Leicester squad will find Puel a different character to Shakespeare, with whom many players formed a warm relationship during his many years as an assistant before his promotion in the wake of Claudio Ranieri’s shock sacking in February. Puel’s record suggests he will bring the tactical savviness Shakespeare was accused of lacking this season.
The 56-year-old has a French title among his managerial achievements, having won Ligue 1 in 2000 with Monaco, the club at which he had spent his entire playing career. He is perhaps known more as a builder of medium-sized clubs and a cultivator of young talents thanks to his six-year spell in charge of Lille, who regularly qualified for Europe by finishing above clubs with more resources. He was voted the manager of the year in France in 2005 for leading Lille to a second-place finish in Ligue 1 behind Lyon.
He was appointed as the Lyon manager in 2008 and, despite leading the club to the semi-finals of the 2010 Champions League, his reign ended unhappily in 2011 amid criticism of his man-management and a dreary playing style.
He refurbished his image at Nice by transforming a struggling side with young players and a thrilling attacking style before leaving in 2016 and taking over at Southampton.
Puel described it as “a great privilege” to take the Leicester job. “The opportunity to help the club build on its remarkable recent achievements is a truly exciting one, and I’m looking forward to working with the owners, players, staff and supporters to deliver further lasting success,” he said.
He arrives with the club 14th in the Premier League, one point above the relegation zone.
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