Leicester City enter ‘talks’ to appoint manager likened to Carlo Ancelotti as Danny Rohl update emerges

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Leicester City frontrunner Danny Rohl is poised to leave Sheffield Wednesday soon after making a key decision over his future.

After relegation to the Championship last season, Leicester City have been preparing for life back in the second tier this summer, with changes ahead in many departments.

Leicester parted ways with Ruud van Nistelrooy last week, after he oversaw the Foxes’ top flight demotion, with the decision expected for several weeks.

Van Nistelrooy’s parting Leicester statement showed no signs of remorse to the King Power Stadium hierarchy, who are now searching for the Dutchman’s successor to lead them into the 2025/26 Championship campaign.

Currently, Sheffield Wednesday head coach Danny Rohl is at the top of Leicester’s list, and his comparisons to former Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti will be music to the ears of the Foxes’ faithful.

• READ MORE: After Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Richard Keys calls for the sacking of divisive Leicester City figure

Leicester City ‘hold talks’ with Sheffield Wednesday over Danny Rohl

Earlier in June, EFL Analysis revealed that Rohl is the frontrunner at Leicester, and his acquisition would prove to be in demand among the fans, as lots of Leicester fans want Rohl to succeed van Nistelrooy.

Amid Sheffield Wednesday’s financial crisis, it has seemed inevitable for months that Rohl would depart Hillsborough after guiding the Owls to 12th last term, but the major stumbling block for Leicester was Rohl’s £5m release clause.

However, in a major boost for Leicester’s Rohl pursuit, it emerged last week that the release clause fee was slashed to £1m after Sheffield Wednesday agreed to reduce the compensation package.

With the German not returning to Wednesday’s pre-season, Rohl told Sheffield Wednesday players he’ll leave this summer in confirmation of news that has been coming throughout the post-season.

The Daily Mail report confirmed that “Leicester have held talks with Wednesday over the compensation package” for Rohl.

As well as Rohl, England Under-21s boss Lee Carsley is on Leicester’s radar, but it appears that the Owls boss is the current frontrunner to take over at the King Power.

One Sheffield Wednesday expert’s comparisons between Rohl and former Real Madrid boss Ancelotti make for an impressive appraisal for the potential new Foxes boss.

• READ MORE: Leicester City slammed for ‘deeply frustrating’ Ruud van Nistelrooy decision, club ‘owe fans an explanation’

Sheffield Wednesday expert compares Danny Rohl to Carlo Ancelotti

In his two seasons at Sheffield Wednesday, Rohl has cemented himself as one of the best young managerial prospects in English football, after steering the Owls to safety in his first season in 2023/24.

Despite the ongoing financial crisis at Sheffield Wednesday, Rohl stabilised the club to a comfortable mid-table finish this season, playing a brand of football that is both attractive to watch, but pragmatic enough to earn points.

Rohl’s coaching acumen has seen Sheffield Wednesday expert, Alan Biggs, liken the German to Ancelotti.

His point centres around Ancelotti’s lack of standout football philosophy, which Ancelotti has explained: “I don’t have a fixed style. My approach changes depending on the players I have and the opponent we face. Football is about decisions. If you’re too rigid with one way of playing, it makes it easier for the opposition to find solutions.

In comparison, Biggs told the Sheffield Star: “If it’s good enough for Ancelotti, it’s certainly good enough for Danny Rohl as a key reason why for so long the discussion around Sheffield Wednesday has been play-offs with, at best, a mid-table squad.

“You see managers routinely dropping into jobs spouting ‘their philosophy’ and a determination to bend their new team to it.

“The point is this is only possible if Plan A and all its parts is good enough to dominate most opponents regardless.

“That is palpably not true of Wednesday and it’s only by running through the alphabet that Rohl has very skillfully enhanced the face value of his squad.

“Clearly he’d prefer to be high pressing and threading passes from the keeper. But he’s buried his preferences, and you get the feeling that Ancelotti would be the first to applaud.”

Whether Rohl goes on to better five-time Champions League winner Ancelotti remains to be seen, but what is far more certain is that the German is one of the best managers in the EFL, and one who can mastermind an automatic promotion for Leicester in the 2025/26 Championship if appointed.