The former City full-back, and former Birmingham, Stoke, Millwall, Derby and Oxford manager, could take over on a short-term deal to try to keep the club in the division
15:53, 16 Feb 2026Updated 16:00, 16 Feb 2026
Gary Rowett could be the next Leicester City manager(Image: George Wood/Getty Images)
Leicester City are in talks to appoint Gary Rowett as their new boss on a short-term deal.
Rowett, who has vast experience in the Championship, is available following his departure from Oxford in December.
The Telegraph report that he’s now the frontrunner to take over at the King Power Stadium on a deal until the end of the season in a bid to keep the club in the Championship.
It’s understood the 51-year-old is indeed one of the candidates City have spoken to about the vacant manager’s position, with the search for a new boss now at 22 days, the longest hunt to fill the hotseat under King Power’s ownership.
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If appointed this week, his first game in charge would be against one of his former clubs, Stoke, on Saturday afternoon.
Rowett has managed five clubs in the Championship previously, taking charge of more than 400 games in the division with Birmingham, Derby, Millwall, Stoke and Oxford.
A former full-back who played more than 50 times for City in the early noughties, Rowett has a reputation for being able to organise a defence, his sides keeping a clean sheet in 34 per cent of his matches as a manager in the Championship.
City are currently on a run of 26 games without a clean sheet and have the second-worst defensive record in the division.
Rowett’s appointment may come as a slight surprise given he criticised the “very, very poor management” of the City hierarchy just over a week ago.
“They haven’t been in brilliant form,” Rowett told Sky Sports. “I think they’ve been very, very inconsistent this season, with the squad that they’ve got you’d expect more, so obviously nothing’s perfect there in terms of the chemistry.
“I think the next step for Leicester has to be the right step for them because you can’t go from winning the Premier League to being in League One in a matter of a few seasons, that is very, very poor management, so they’ve got a big month coming up, I believe. I think they’ll be fine but I think they’ve got a big month coming up.”
Speaking before the Southampton league game, he said: “I’ve got to be honest, they are a tough next six fixtures.
“The only thing you would say is with a squad like Leicester, if they can find the balance right within the team, if they can find that little bit of form, they’re capable of winning every one of those games. I’m not suggesting their previous form is going to do that.
“I think they’ll make a change as well, managerial wise. I think they’ll be really ambitious with their next appointment. If they are in the top six, I think it’s a very different appeal to the job.
“But when you look at their training ground, when you look at the size of the club, I think there’ll be a hell of a lot of managers who’ll be looking at that job thinking ‘I can get them out of trouble’.
“Then it’s what’s next for that opportunity and I don’t think there’s many jobs come around like that in the Championship. That’s why I’m saying I think there’ll be a really ambitious appointment for the next one and I’d expect them to make that quite soon.”
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