Ruud van Nistelrooy’s long-expected departure as Leicester City manager has been confirmed more than nine weeks after the Foxes were relegated from the Premier League.
The 48-year-old Dutchman oversaw 19 defeats and managed just five wins from his 27 matches in charge of the East Midlands club last season.
Leicester’s relegation was confirmed with five matches of the campaign remaining, but the former PSV Eindhoven boss saw out the season and held on to the job for another month after it concluded.
The drawn out nature of Van Nistelrooy’s exit, which the Championship club says is “mutually agreed”, was described as “baffling” and “a mess” by former Foxes striker Matt Fryatt in early June.
Not only are the club now looking to regroup for their second season in the Championship in three years, they are also facing a potential points penalty for the upcoming season after being charged for allegedly breaching the English Football League’s financial rules.
Van Nistelrooy said he wanted to “wish the club well” for the future.
“I would like to personally thank the Leicester City players, coaches, academy and all the staff I have worked with for their professionalism and dedication during my time at the club,” he told Leicester’s website., external
Former Everton and Burnley boss Sean Dyche has been heavily linked with replacing the Dutchman at the King Power Stadium before their return to England’s second tier.
First-team coaching staff will oversee the start of Leicester’s pre-season work while the Foxes hierarchy look to bring a new boss in for the start of the new campaign, which they begin against Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday, 10 August.
Leicester were 16th in the table and one point above the relegation places when Van Nistelrooy replaced Steve Cooper at the King Power Stadium.
Former Nottingham Forest boss Cooper was in charge for the first three months of the season – overseeing three wins and seven losses from 15 games in all competitions – after replacing Enzo Maresca, who left for Chelsea after winning the Championship title with the Foxes in 2023-24.
Two of the defeats that Cooper’s Foxes suffered came against a Manchester United team led by Van Nistelrooy as caretaker boss, the former Red Devils striker having stepped up from his former role as assistant manager at Old Trafford to temporarily replace compatriot Erik ten Hag.
Victory against West Ham in Van Nistelrooy’s first match in charge on 3 December gave him the ideal start, but three weeks later they were in the relegation zone.
And apart from a seven-day reprieve after beating Tottenham in late January, the Foxes spent the last five months of campaign in the bottom three where they eventually finished 13 points from safety in 18th spot.
The woeful end to the campaign was also one of record-setting proportions.
Their 1-0 defeat by Liverpool on 20 April, which condemned Van Nistelrooy’s side to the drop, meant that Leicester became the first team in English top-flight history to lose nine successive home games without scoring.
