How Marti Cifuentes feels about taking over at Leicester City | OneFootball

Former QPR manager Marti Cifuentes will take a pay cut in order to secure the Leicester job, according to reports, but it won't be an easy job.

Former Queens Park Rangers manager Marti Cifuentes is prepared to take a substantial pay cut in order to secure the vacant managerial position at Leicester City.

Marti Cifuentes has emerged as the surprise front-runner for the vacant Leicester position, which has been vacant since Ruud Van Nistelrooy left the club "by mutual consent" at the end of June following the club's relegation at the end of the 2024-25 season. Leicester ended the season in 18th place in the Premier League, thirteen points adrift of safety.

Cifuentes, meanwhile, was placed on gardening leave in April following intense speculation connecting him to the then-vacant managerial position at West Bromwich Albion. He was relieved of his duties at the end of the season, with Julian Stephan being appointed into the position at Loftus Road. QPR finished the season in 15th place in the Championship.

Cifuentes will take a pay cut to join Leicester because "he is excited by the project"

Sky Sports report that Cifuentes will be taking a pay cut if, as expected, he becomes the new Leicester City manager.

They report that personal terms have been agreed with the Leicester hierarchy and that because he is personally paying back a large proportion of the £500k compensation he has been paid whilst on gardening leave at QPR, he will effectively be taking a pay cut to take over at King Power Stadium"

They go on to add that Cifuentes is happy to do so, and offered that to his new employers - because he is excited by the project, though they add a warning that finances [are] very tight at Leicester, and with the prospect of a points deduction looming over the club for alleged PSR breaches.

Leicester escaped PSR charges in 2024 but the rules have been tightened since

Although excited by the project, Cifuentes will be stepping into a position that is uncommon for clubs just relegated from the Premier League.

It is normally anticipated that those just relegated from the Premier League will be among those promoted straight back, but Leicester's precarious position makes this somewhat less certain than might normally be expected.

The "pay cut" referenced relates to what he was paid while he was on gardening leave. Voluntarily paying back a ‘significant chunk’ of the £500,000 compensation sum owing to previous club QPR helps to clear that pathway.

Leicester City are facing a possible points deduction due to alleged breaches of financial rules. The Premier League has charged the club with violating profitability and sustainability regulations for the 2023-24 season, during which they were in the Championship. The club escaped similar charges from the EFL in 2024 because they were no longer an EFL club and no longer bound by their rules. This loophole was closed by the governing bodies earlier this year.

With Van Nistelrooy's departure having been put off for so long after the end of last season, Leicester fans will be relieved to establish that their club has now made a decision over their next manager.

But there are plenty of signs that Cifuentes could be stepping into a difficult position, ahead of the 2025-26 season.