Ex-Leicester City and QPR boss Marti Cifuentes to land surprise new job | OneFootball

Marti Cifuentes has previously managed Leicester City and QPR, but struggled, and is set to land a surprising job in the MLS in the near future.

It's fair to say that Marti Cifuentes' time in English football has been a mixed spell, with the 44-year-old managing both Leicester City and Queens Park Rangers.

The Spaniard managed Swedish side, Hammarby IF before making his first move to England, where he signed a deal to become QPR's new manager in October 2023.

Cifuentes guided QPR to an 18th-place finish in his first season with the club, before following that up with a 15th-place finish in the following year.

QPR had hopes of winning promotion back into the Premier League, and Cifuentes struggled to make much of a notable impact in his time with the club, which will have been frustrating for the club's supporters.

His time with the Hoops won't be remembered too fondly though, with Cifuentes' representatives reportedly being in contact with fellow Championship side, West Brom in April 2025, as the Baggies looked to fill their vacant manager's position at the time.

This resulted in QPR putting the Spaniard on gardening leave, although he never made the shortlist for the vacancy at The Hawthorns. However, the damage was seemingly already done.

Cifuentes left QPR by mutual consent in June 2025, and wasted no time in finding his next opportunity, as he became Leicester City's new manager just a month later.

Cifuentes' struggles with Leicester City

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Cifuentes would have been looking to reignite his managerial career in English football with Leicester City, but that move turned out to be a disastrous appointment for the Foxes.

They struggled to build any sort of momentum throughout the 2025/26 season, and after they were beaten by fellow relegation-threatened Oxford United in January 2026, the Leicester owners relieved Cifuentes of his duties in charge of the club.

Leicester went on to be relegated into League One, in what was an almost unthinkable relegation for a club that were playing their football in the Premier League not so long ago.

Spaniard set for MLS move

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Cifuentes is reportedly set for his next managerial move, with The Athletic's Tom Bogert revealing that the former QPR and Leicester City boss is set to take charge of Portland Timbers.

That report claims that the MLS side are keen on appointing Cifuentes for his attack-minded philosophy and tactical sophistication, which some Leicester fans might find surprising, as they didn't see too much evidence of that.

The Athletic also state that Panama head coach Thomas Christiansen and former Austin FC head coach Josh Wolff were under consideration for the managerial role at Portland Timbers, but Cifuentes emerged as their preferred target.

Portland Timbers have been without a manager since May 2026, with former Manchester United and Everton defender, Phil Neville being sacked after a defeat to San Jose Earthquakes.

Portland are currently 11th in the Western Conference, and beat Seattle Sounders 5-1 away from home in their most recent match, and it'll be interesting to see how Cifuentes can make an impact on this squad, who have been inconsistent with their results for much of the last few months.