Former Leeds manager Jesse Marsch has revealed he was hours away from being unveiled as Leicester City boss before turning the club down to take a job with the USA national team that never materialised.
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Marsch, currently preparing to lead hosts Canada into this summer’s World Cup, said he agreed to be Brendan Rodgers’ successor at the King Power Stadium.
Sacked by relegation rivals Leeds a couple of months earlier, Marsch was targeted by City after Rodgers’ departure and was at the King Power Stadium ready to watch their defeat to Bournemouth.
But while he was at the ground, he received a call from US Soccer offering him the chance to take over as the country’s manager.
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And so he turned down City to take over his home country, only for the job to never come to fruition. At City, Dean Smith was appointed two days later, and was unable to keep the club in the Premier League.
“I was literally being fingerprinted (for a visa) for the job at Leicester and I was ready to take it,” Marsch told Give Me Sport. “Then I got the call from US Soccer.
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“It changed the trajectory of my life. I think things happen for a reason, and I’m happy with where I am right now.
“There was a match that day and we were going to go to the stadium together. Everything was agreed upon.
“And by the way, the Leicester people are fantastic. I felt terrible. It was the second time that I had pulled the rug out from under a club. It happened with Southampton as well.
“I like that club, I like those people. In another lifetime, Leicester would have been a really cool experience.”
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On the USA job, Marsch added: “All I’d say is that it was made very clear to me by US Soccer that I was going to be the coach, and then it was made very clear to me that I was not.
“At the time, I was devastated and angry, but now I am thankful and really happy to be where I’m at.”
Marsch has now been in charge of Canada for two years and is preparing for the World Cup, when they will play Qatar, Switzerland, and the winners of next week’s European play-offs between Wales, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland and Italy.
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