The former Southampton boss looks set to take the reins at Leicester City.
Leicester City are set to appoint the former Southampton manager Claude Puel as Craig Shakespeare’s replacement, according to the Sun.
But which of the Frenchman’s former players could he target in the January transfer window?
HITC Sport takes a look.
Jeremy Pied (Southampton)
Puel initially managed the right-back at Lyon and later took him to Nice and Southampton. However, injury restricted Pied to just four appearances in his maiden season at St Mary’s, and he’s remained a peripheral figure this campaign. Danny Simpson is Leicester’s only specialist in Pied’s position currently.
Hatem Ben Arfa (Paris Saint-Germain)
Puel was robbed of Ben Arfa’s services less than a fortnight after taking the Lyon job, but reunited with the maverick winger seven years later at Nice. Ben Arfa’s year there proved a turning point in his career and led to him joining Paris Saint-Germain, where he is currently out of favour. Were Leicester to lose either of their sought-after duo Demarai Gray and Riyad Mahrez, then another reunion would be plausible.
Alassane Plea (Nice)
Another who followed Puel from Lyon to Nice, for whom he has scored seven goals already this season. Leicester certainly aren’t short of strikers right now, but a move for Plea, whose contract expires next summer, could make sense from a financial point of view if others can be moved on. In other words, he’s a potential Plea bargain…