Leicester City eye West Brom figure amid fresh Russell Martin update | OneFootball

The Baggies could face a fight to retain one of James Morrison's coaching staff

West Bromwich Albion could face a fight to hold onto one of their coaches amid rumours that Leicester City could be set to appoint one of his former close allies.

Leicester City have a lot of work to do this summer following their second successive relegation. Falling from the Premier League at the end of 2024-25 was a significant disruption to the club, but falling into League One was not on anybody at the club's radar and the Foxes are now rebuilding with the intention of making their stay in the third tier as brief as possible.

The club are reportedly in discussions with the former MK Dons, Swansea City and Southampton manager Russell Martin, who's been out of work since his brief and disastrous spell at Rangers in 2025.

And, this could result in a tug-of-war ove one of the Baggies' coaching staff, who's very closely associated with Martin.

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Reporting on his Patreon on Sunday morning, journalist Alan Nixon has reported that Leicester's interest in Russell Martin could have knock-on effects at West Bromwich Albion.

He confirms that the Foxes' talks with Martin could result in them also trying to tempt coach Matt Gill to The King Power Stadium, but that Albion are keen to keep hold of Gill, who has only been with them since March.

Gill worked with Martin at Swansea, Southampton and Rangers, and it's likely that if negotiations between Martin and Leicester end in him being appointed, the natural choice as his assistant will be the West Brom man.

But Nixon confirms that Albion want to keep Gill, although he adds that they will want "two new additions" to their coaching staff, in the event that Martin takes the Leicester job and Gill agrees to join him.

Matt Gill is a long-time assistant to Russell Martin, and teaming back up will be a temptation

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Gill started his coaching career as player-assistant coach to Rob Edwards at Tranmere Rovers in 2014, before moving on to Norwich City, where he worked in various positions in their coaching and scouting staff.

But it's been as assistant to Russell Martin that he has come to be most widely recognised. The pair first teamed up at MK Dons in 2021, and they've also worked together at Swansea City, Southampton and Rangers.

With Martin having been out of work since his sacking from Rangers at the start of October 2025, Gill sought work elsewhere, and he was brought in to work alongside James Morrison as The Baggies sought to extricate themselves from a relegation battle at the foot of last season's Championship.

Having been successful in keeping West Brom up, Morrison's interim position was made permanent at the end of April, but the temptation to team up with Martin will be strong for the coach, should Martin be successful in getting the Leicester position.

Both of these clubs have work to do this summer following poor seasons in the Championship in 2025-26, and West Bromwich Albion may be able to hang onto Gill if they can persuade him of the merits of staying in that division rather than dropping a division in order to team up with Martin again.

But the combination of the prospect of teaming up with Martin combined with the aspiration of Leicester's stay in League One being a brief one could be tempting for Gill, and this could in turn leave West Bromwich Albion looking for new coaches this summer, as they prepare for what they hope will be a better season than last season's near-miss.