{"id":42076,"date":"2026-02-07T23:33:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T04:33:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/02\/07\/leicester-city-meltdown-as-talks-begin-behind-the-scenes-over-surprise-return\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T23:33:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T04:33:24","slug":"leicester-city-meltdown-as-talks-begin-behind-the-scenes-over-surprise-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/02\/07\/leicester-city-meltdown-as-talks-begin-behind-the-scenes-over-surprise-return\/","title":{"rendered":"Leicester City &#8216;meltdown&#8217; as talks begin behind-the-scenes over surprise return"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_74 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/02\/07\/leicester-city-meltdown-as-talks-begin-behind-the-scenes-over-surprise-return\/#How_was_Enzo_Maresca_in_his_first_stint_at_Leicester\" >How was Enzo Maresca in his first stint at Leicester?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/02\/07\/leicester-city-meltdown-as-talks-begin-behind-the-scenes-over-surprise-return\/#Leicester_City_are_in_a_precarious_situation\" >Leicester City are in a precarious situation<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Leicester City have opened initial talks with former manager Enzo Maresca over a sensational return to the King Power Stadium. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Foxes are reportedly in a &#8220;meltdown&#8221; and have turned to a familiar face in a desperate effort to stabilize a season that is rapidly spiraling out of control, according to Sports Boom<\/p>\n<p>The dramatic move follows the firing of Marti Cifuentes after just six months in office.<\/p>\n<p>Cifuentes was sacked following a brutal collapse in form between September and October, when the team won just once.<\/p>\n<p>A recent 2-1 defeat at home to struggling Oxford United was the final straw for the division.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 612px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Photo credit: Chris Lee \u2013 Chelsea FC\/Chelsea FC, Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_was_Enzo_Maresca_in_his_first_stint_at_Leicester\"><\/span>How was Enzo Maresca in his first stint at Leicester?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Maresca, who left Chelsea last month, remains a highly regarded figure at Leicester due to the immediate impact he made during the 2023-24 season.<\/p>\n<p>Since taking over in June 2023, the Italian tactician, a former assistant to Josep Guardiola, has dominated the second division with his dominant possession-based style.<\/p>\n<p>During that season, he led the Foxes to the league title and an immediate return to the Premier League, and was named Manager of the Month on four separate occasions.<\/p>\n<p>His eventual move to Chelsea divided opinion among some supporters, but they believe his track record in securing promotion from the Championship is exactly what the board needs.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Leicester_City_are_in_a_precarious_situation\"><\/span>Leicester City are in a precarious situation<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The growing crisis off the pitch has increased the urgency of Maresca&#8217;s move.<\/p>\n<p>Leicester will receive an immediate six point deduction for breaching the Profitability and Sustainability Regulations (PSR) during the 2023-24 season.<\/p>\n<p>This penalty saw the club plummet to 20th place in the Championship standings, leaving them just outside the relegation zone.<\/p>\n<p>There are now fears of a double relegation in the boardroom, with the club reportedly considering Maresca in a bid to save their season.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End -->\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Leicester City have opened initial talks with former manager Enzo Maresca over a sensational return to the King Power Stadium. The Foxes are reportedly in a &#8220;meltdown&#8221; and have turned to a familiar face in a desperate effort to stabilize a season that is rapidly spiraling out of control, according to Sports Boom The dramatic [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42077,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[40],"class_list":{"0":"post-42076","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42076\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}