How close Leicester City really were to appointing ex-Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch | OneFootball

Former Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch has opened up on how close he came to replacing Brendan Rodgers at Leicester City

Leicester City are currently battling against successive relegations from the Premier League to League One under Gary Rowett, with the Foxes remaining in grave danger of falling into English football's third-tier as we approach the twilight of the 2025/26 Championship campaign.

It has been a miserable season both on and off-the-pitch for Leicester, who plummeted into relegation trouble after being slapped with a six-point deduction last month from the EFL for breaching Profit and Sustainability (PSR) rules.

Now under the management of ex-Oxford United boss Gary Rowett following a parting of ways with Marti Cifuentes in January, Leicester find themselves in 23rd position and two points shy of 21st-placed West Bromwich Albion as a frantic finale awaits in the Championship relegation battle.

There are, of course, a number of sliding door moments for Leicester, in which supporters will always rue and wonder what could've been done differently to prevent the East Midlands outfit from staring down the barrel of relegation just five years on from lifting the FA Cup and securing successive seasons in European competition.

Quite whether the potential appointment of Jesse Marsch after his February 2023 exit from Leeds United, who were promptly relegated back into the Championship alongside the Foxes, would've made such a significant difference remains open to debate, but the Foxes got it wrong from there on in and may always wonder what could've been.

How close Leicester City were to appointing Jesse Marsch after Leeds United exit

In a wide-ranging interview with sister title GIVEMESPORT, Marsch opened up on his tenure managing the Canada national side ahead of this summer's FIFA 2026 World Cup and the events which led to his appointment nearly two years ago.

The 52-year-old spent a year managing Leeds following the controversial sacking of legendary boss Marcelo Bielsa before being relieved of his duties amid a second straight relegation battle at Elland Road.

Two months after his departure from West Yorkshire, Marsch came within moments of taking the then-vacant job at Leicester to replace Brendan Rodgers. He would, however, opt for a drastic change of heart, which came when he received an unexpected call from the United States national team (USMNT) while visiting Leicester's Seagrave training ground to be fingerprinted for a visa.

Indeed, Marsch was scheduled to attend Leicester's 1-0 home defeat to AFC Bournemouth that evening alongside sporting director John Rudkin, but having thought he was nailed-on to land the USMNT job in unexpected fashion, he did a U-turn and decided to commit himself to the opportunity of managing his nation - only for Gregg Berhalter to be re-appointed before being replaced with Mauricio Pochettino.

Southampton.

He explained: "I got a call from US Soccer when I was literally being fingerprinted [for a visa] at Leicester.

"I was ready to take that job, so it changed the trajectory of my life. I think things happen for a reason, and I'm happy with where I am right now.

"There was a match that day [against Bournemouth] and we were going to go to the [King Power] stadium together. Everything was agreed upon. And by the way, the Leicester people are fantastic.

"I felt terrible. It was the second time that I had pulled the rug out from under a club. It happened with Southampton as well. In another lifetime, Leicester would have been a really cool experience."

What happened to Leicester City after Jesse Marsch miss

Three days after Marsch's last-grasp snub, Leicester would settle on the appointment of Dean Smith in a frantic and ultimately-ill-fated attempt to retain the club's Premier League status.

Accompanied by John Terry and Foxes legend Craig Shakespeare, the ex-Aston Villa boss took over when Leicester were positioned in 19th place but failed to inspire them towards safety by just winning one of his eight games in charge.

Leicester appointed Enzo Maresca to direct their promotion push from the Championship and he did exactly that as the Foxes pipped Ipswich Town and Leeds to the second-tier title, but the Italian swiftly departed for Chelsea and City were left to pick up the pieces.

The subsequent appointments of both Steve Cooper and then Ruud van Nistelrooy simply never worked out, and Leicester dropped back into the Championship with a whimper last year.

Their luck, of course, has hardly fared better back in the second-tier, and after the decision to hire Cifuentes following a solid stint with QPR didn't quite come to fruition, much pressure now rests on the shoulders of Rowett to steer Leicester away from the eerie threat of a catastrophic relegation to League One.