Claude Puel named new Leicester City manager
Claude Puel has been appointed as the latest manager of Leicester City, following the dismissal of Craig Shakespeare, who took the reigns from title-winning manager Claudio Ranieri during the 2016-17 season.
Twitter: #lcfc are delighted to announce the appointment of Claude Puel as the Club’s new First Team Manager:… https://t.co/xvUcQASzAU (@LCFC)
Puel, 56, played 601 times for AS Monaco before becoming their reserve team manager and then first team manager after that; he won two league titles and three French cups with the municipality side as a player before then guiding them to league success again as a manager.
In 2002, he finally left the club he joined as an 18-year-old to manage Lille; he went from there to Lyon in 2008, before taking over at Nice in 2012 and then moving away from France for the first time to manage Premier League side Southampton in 2016.
He lasted a little under a year on the south coast, being sacked despite guiding the Saints to 8th place in the Premier League as well as the League Cup final at Wembley, which they lost 3-2 to Manchester United in rather controversial circumstances.
He had been out of a job since his Southampton sacking earlier this year, but boasts a good record; he has managed 763 games since finishing as a player, with 325 wins in those fixtures.
Puel is the first Frenchman to manage Leicester City, and only the fourth person from outside of the UK and Ireland to take the reigns at the club.