The newest news on Steve Cooper, the former Nottingham Forest manager, is apparently poised to accept an offer from a Premier League opponent.
Steve Cooper has reportedly hinted that if Nottingham Forest’s near Premier League rivals Leicester City offered him a post as Enzo Maresca’s replacement, he would accept.
When Chelsea fired Mauricio Pochettino last month, the Foxes found themselves caught up in the managerial merry-go-round this summer. Maresca emerged as a key target for the Londoners, and all indications point to his announcement being made on Monday afternoon.
This will leave Leicester in need of a new manager, and one option that has been mentioned is Forest’s previous manager, Cooper. The 44-year-old has been out of job since being fired from his position at the City Ground last December, and The Sun reports he would leap at the chance to join the club’s East Midlands rivals.
According to recent reports, Cooper is ready to return to management as soon as possible, but he will be selective in his alternatives and wait for the ideal Premier League opening. According to the Sun, this has included rejecting an approach from demoted Burnley to replace Vincent Kompany, who has joined Bayern Munich.
Given Forest and Leicester’s regional rivalry, there were some legitimate concerns about whether he would accept an offer there, but this latest claim appears to indicate that this would not be an issue for the Welshman. He is still settled in the neighborhood seven months after leaving his Forest work, so this would be a reasonable next step.
According to reports, Leicester, who are returning to the Premier League after a one-year hiatus, would provide Cooper with a transfer budget. They also want him to enhance the current group by playing attacking football, with the ultimate goal of remaining in the division.
Cooper is presently the 5/2 second favourite with bookies for the Leicester position, trailing only West Bromwich Albion’s Carlos Corberan.
