Leicester City’s new coach circumstances four star players to signs at this summer.

Simon Jordan has questioned Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis, but he has backed Leicester City’s recruitment of Steve Cooper.

Cooper, who has agreed to a three-year contract, takes Enzo Maresca’s place as City returns to the Premier League with the intention of strengthening and resolving difficulties with the Profitability & Sustainability Rules.

Although Jordan acknowledges that going to Cooper might not have made Foxes fans’ pulses race, he cites the challenging circumstances he faced at Forest, when he initially led the Reds to promotion before being given a group of players to assemble into a team.

As the squad faltered in their first season back in the Premier League, there was a moment when it appeared as though Marinakis would fire Cooper. Rather, he gave him a new deal, and gradually, things looked better for the team.

But a second early-season setback proved to be too much for the owner to handle, and in December 2023, Cooper was replaced by Nuno Espirito Santo.

Speaking on talkSPORT, Jordan discussed Cooper’s relocation to the King Power Stadium. “I’m not too big on philosophies, but Leicester was introduced to a certain style of play when they were relegated, and now that Cooper has taken over, he will either improve it further or alter it because a new manager has replaced the previous one.

“I am unaware of Leicester City’s identity. Other than being a very important football team that won the Premier League in 2016, I’m not sure what Leicester City’s identity is.

A few years back, I did refer to him as a bridesmaid, didn’t I? For all that time, he had been hovering just outside of leading Swansea into the Premier League and missing that final barrier.

Naturally, he proceeded to Forest and rectified Chris Hughton’s predicament, in which things were not going well for Forest. Suddenly, he accomplished what Ian Dowie had done for me back in 2004 and what Roy Keane had done for Sunderland, turning them from a bottom-of-the-table team that season into a team that won promotion.

“After what [Brian] Clough had done with that football club and its history, Nottingham Forest, the former European champions, had been out of the Premier League for 23 years. This made him an instant hero to the fans of Nottingham Forest.”

“He enters the Premier League, and you immediately see Marinakis in the background. Following the play-off final, Marinakis tells you [co-host Jim White], ‘We’re going to go in and win trophies.'”

He then enters and begins spending money, buying everyone that is available who isn’t committed to another football team, throwing it around left, right, and center. Cooper was put under pressure as soon as players like Jesse Lingard were brought in on large salaries for a team that had just been promoted.

“The owner takes a different approach, turning away from it and doing something that nobody anticipated he would do: he gives Cooper a new deal. They maintain their Premier League status and do so for the first season by a margin that may be greater than that of Aston Villa, who managed to stay in the last game the season before.

Cooper appears to be making progress, but once more, he loses his position at Nottingham Forest.

“He seems like a safe appointment to me. He seems reasonable to me. Palace observed that he is a respectable football player. Will he blow up the whole planet? Does Leicester really need to blow up the world? Since they were absent from the Premier League for a season, do they now need to restore their reputation there?

“Everything has changed; they are now a different football team.” Their enthusiasm has diminished somewhat from what it was. To be honest, I attribute some of that to Brendan Rodgers and his accomplishments from the previous season. You have to give him all the credit for winning the FA Cup for Leicester, no question, but I believe he left him a little bit confused.

But Cooper is a capable assistant. He is aware that he is skilled in relegation situations and that he very well may find himself in one.