Leicester Women consider appointing Amandine Miquel as new manager | OneFootball

The Reims manager, Amandine Miquel, is one of the candidates under strong consideration for the managerial vacancy at Leicester City.

According to multiple sources, the Women’s Super League club have held talks with a number of coaches, including Miquel.

The 40-year-old French coach has been in charge at Reims for seven years and has built a good reputation, exceeding expectations at the club relative to their smaller budget. Her side finished fourth in the French top flight this past season, behind only Lyon, Paris Saint-Germain and another of the sides who took part in last season’s Women’s Champions League, Paris FC.

Miquel is well regarded in France for developing young players. The Haiti and Lyon midfielder Melchie Dumornay – who was last month named as the Women’s Champions League’s young player of the season – is among those who have worked under Miquel at Reims and gone on to play at a higher level.

Under Miquel, Reims were promoted to the French top flight in 2019 and despite being one of the smaller clubs in the division have not finished outside the top eight since. Her side finished eighth, sixth, seventh and sixth respectively before their fourth-place finish. Miquel, a former Chelsea youth player, was linked with the Lyon role this summer, before the French champions’ appointment of Joe Montemurro.

Leicester, who finished 10th in the WSL last month, have been conducting a thorough search for a long-term replacement for Willie Kirk, who was sacked in March after an investigation into an alleged relationship with a player, first reported by the Guardian. Kirk admitted to the relationship in an interview with the Daily Mail last month.

Jennifer Foster took charge of Leicester on an interim basis for the remainder of the WSL season after Kirk’s initial suspension and she guided them to the semi-finals of the Women’s FA Cup with an away victory over Liverpool but did not win any of her seven league fixtures.

Meanwhile, parents and players from the academy at the Women’s Championship side Reading have launched a petition to try to save their academy and the women’s team from risk of closure.

It was revealed on Tuesday that the Berkshire club may not be able to compete in the Championship next season because of financial constraints, amid a long delay to a possible takeover over the club, and it is understood the academy may not be able to continue.

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