Ruud van Nistelrooy (49), a former teammate of Park Ji-sung at Manchester United (ManU) and well-known as "Son Heung-min's mentor," is expected to be dismissed.

British outlet TalkSport reported on the 28th (Korea time) that "Leicester City is beginning the process of parting ways with manager van Nistelrooy, who has two years left on his contract," and noted that "the successor has been selected as former Southampton manager RUSSELL Martin (39)."

Van Nistelrooy, a former Dutch striker, is familiar to Korean fans as he played alongside Park Ji-sung for about a year during his time at ManU. He also voluntarily took on the role of "mentor" for young Son Heung-min during their time in Hamburg, Germany.

Van Nistelrooy drew attention by reuniting with Tottenham captain Son Heung-min after becoming the manager of Leicester City. Before the match, Son Heung-min approached van Nistelrooy and embraced him.

Van Nistelrooy showed foresight by noting that Son Heung-min, then a rookie in Hamburg, had "the makings of a superstar." Son Heung-min recalled that time, saying, "He was really kind and was like a father to me," expressing his respect for van Nistelrooy.

However, van Nistelrooy recorded dismal results since taking charge of Leicester on Nov. 30 last year. He faced dismissal after achieving only 5 wins (3 draws and 19 losses) in 27 matches.

In particular, Leicester suffered an astonishing 16 losses in 18 matches from December last year to February under van Nistelrooy's leadership. Ultimately, Leicester confirmed their relegation early.

Leicester finished the season in 18th place in the league, suffering the humiliation of being relegated back to the Championship (second division) just one season after promotion. They also earned the dishonor of becoming the first team across all divisions in England to record eight consecutive scoreless home defeats.

The successor, Martin, took charge of Southampton in June 2023 and secured promotion to the Premier League in just one season. However, he was dismissed after losing 0-5 to Tottenham just six months after his reappointment. During that match against Tottenham, Son Heung-min contributed 1 goal and 2 assists.

Leicester is expected to highly value Martin's experience in securing promotion in the Championship and give him another opportunity. It is also considered that Martin's tactics are similar to those of Enzo Maresca, the current Chelsea manager, who previously promoted Leicester.

Martin is also mentioned as a candidate for the next manager of the prestigious Rangers in Scotland. However, since Martin wants to remain in the English league, the likelihood of him taking the helm at Leicester City is high.

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