Former Southampton boss emerges as shock candidate for vacant Leicester role

Former Southampton head coach Claude Puel has emerged as a shock candidate to succeed Craig Shakespeare as Leicester manager, reports The Daily Telegraph.

Leicester have placed assistant manager Michael Appleton in interim charge of the club after making the shock decision to sack Shakespeare at the start of the week less than four months into the full-time job.

The Foxes have no replacement lined up but have already been linked with a move for Burnley manager Sean Dyche, who has a £2.5m buy-out clause in his contract with the Clarets.

However, it has now emerged that Leicester want to speak with Puel, who has been out of work since being sacked by Southampton at the end of last season.

Puel was only in charge of Southampton for a season but led the club to the League Cup final and an eighth-place finish despite underwhelming throughout his spell.

Leicester currently occupy the final relegation place after managing just one win from their opening eight matches, although their fixture list has not been kind to them.

The Foxes are ideally looking for someone with Premier League experience, which may go against Puel, who ended one season at Southampton with a 40% win ratio in all competitions.