Former Leicester City manager Craig Shakespeare has passed away aged 60.

Shakespeare was receiving treatment after being diagnosed with cancer back in October 2023.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Craig Shakespeare, ‘SHAKEY’,” a statement published by the League Managers Association on behalf of his family read.

“Craig passed away peacefully this morning at home surrounded by his family.

“Whilst the family are immensely proud of his footballing achievements as both a player and a coach, to us, his family, he will always primarily be a loving and loved husband, father, son, brother and uncle.

“The loss is devastating to us all and we would ask that privacy be given at this incredibly difficult time as we try to come to terms with, and mourn, the loss of a very special person.

“The family would like to thank and acknowledge the many prayers and good wishes sent during the past few difficult months, many of which we were unable to respond to but all meant a lot to Craig and the family.”

Shakespeare represented Walsall, Sheffield Wednesday, West Bromwich Albion, Grimsby Town, Scunthorpe United, Telford United and Hednesford Town during his playing days as a midfielder between 1981 and 2000.

After hanging up his boots, he became a coach, most famously working on Claudio Ranieri’s staff during Leicester City’s 2015/16 Premier League title-winning campaign before taking the manager’s job at the King Power Stadium in 2017.

Shakespeare, who was born in Birmingham in October 1963, also coached the likes of Watford, Aston Villa and Norwich City, while also working under Sam Allardyce at Everton between December 2017 and May 2018, and with the England national team.

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Former Leicester City manager Craig Shakespeare is currently undergoing treatment for cancer, it has been revealed.

The Foxes have released a statement today confirming this sad news, with the 59-year-old said to be pleased to have received so many well-wishes during this challenging time.

Shakespeare managed Leicester after Claudio Ranieri, and produced some fine results and performances with the club, including in the Champions League.

He’s since been back at the King Power Stadium as assistant manager, and the club released an emotional statement on this important figure today.

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Leicester City Chief Executive Susan Whelan said: “Everyone at the Club sends their strength and support to Craig, his wife Karen and their children Elle and Jed.

“They will all be in our thoughts and prayers as Craig progresses with his treatment, surrounded by the love befitting his place in the hearts of the Leicester City family and the wider game.”

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It’s been a tumultuous time at Leicester City since the mutual parting of Brendan Rodgers, given their precarious Premier League position.

With only eight games left of the 2022/23 campaign, the Foxes are in awful current form having lost four of the last five and with Pep Guardiola’s free-scoring Manchester City side up next, per the official Premier League website.

BBC Sport reported on Dean Smith has been handed the poisoned chalice of trying to keep them in the English top-flight this season.

He’ll be assisted by someone who knows the club well, Craig Shakespeare, with John Terry as one of his assistants.

At present, that arrangement will only last until the end of the season, and whether that continues will surely depend on if Leicester are still a Premier League club next season or not.

Journalist, Dean Jones, has suggested that there should be someone else given consideration for the full time post, and that’s a manager that another journalist, Melissa Reddy, once called superb.

Brighton are getting the results a lot of their past performances have merited, born out of consistency in their ideals and intentions under Graham Potter. Always happy to see smart processes, patience, good recruitment, spirited players and a superb manager rewarded.

— Melissa Reddy (@MelissaReddy_) September 5, 2022

“Graham Potter actually is an example of somebody I think is a good fit for Leicesterand certainly a much better fit for less than he ever was for Chelsea,” Jones said to This is Futbol.

“The problem you’d have with someone like Graham Potter now from a Leicester point of view is that you have to convince him that this is his level. And you have tocheck whether he has the motivation for such a challenge after just having a chancethat one of the biggest clubs in Europe.”

Despite things not working out for him at Chelsea, perhaps a move to a less high profile outfit, with respect to Leicester, would suit Potter.

It would perhaps give him some time out of the limelight in which to develop the squad and have them playing in much the same manner as his brilliant Brighton and Hove Albion team did.

Further, he would then be able to banish the memories of his time at Stamford Bridge and repair his battered reputation.

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A look at how the season pans out on Football Manager 2018.

Football Manager 2018 will hit the stores next week and in the sneak preview Beta version of the game we’ve taken a look at who’s going to win the Premier League this season.

FM is known for its incredible accuracy and detail, so can running a simulation of the 2017/18 season ahead accurately predict this season’s title winner?

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Of course, anyone could run hundreds and thousands of such simulations if they wanted to, with very different results each time, but we thought we’d place our trust in Football Manager 2018 and accept its first answer.

Using the age-old trick of simply taking a holiday for a year, we allowed the Premier League season to run its course, and let Football Manager 2018 do its thing.

Our findings? A lot of it doesn’t sound too crazy…

Football Manager 2018 Premier League winners – Manchester United

Finishing a good 11 points clear of Manchester City, Jose Mourinho got bragging rights over Pep Guardiola in Football Manager 2018’s version of events.

The Red Devils claimed an impressive 91 points to take the title, ending their five-year drought since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013.

In reality, City currently hold a narrow advantage over United in the Premier League table, with a five-point lead after ten matches played.

Champions League winners – Manchester United

It got even better for United, who also beat Barcelona on penalties to come out on top in the Champions League final.

Andres Iniesta had given Barca a late lead in Kiev, but it lasted just four minutes as Zlatan Ibrahimovic made it 1-1 and took the game to extra time.

From there, only penalties could separate the two sides as Luis Suarez and Ivan Rakitic missed for the Catalans, while Daley Blind stepped up to score United’s winner.

MORE: Football Manager 2018 best finishers

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FA Cup winners – Manchester United

Wow – United actually made it a treble as they beat Liverpool 3-1 in the FA Cup final.

Philippe Coutinho gave the Reds the lead before goals from Ibrahimovic and a brace from Jose Callejon turned things around at Wembley.

Mourinho matching Ferguson’s feat of leading United to a treble – can you imagine how insufferable he’d be if this happened in real life?

Carabao Cup winners – Chelsea

Finally a trophy United didn’t win, Liverpool were the unlucky losers again as they were beaten 2-0 by Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final.

In what looks on the face of it to have been a comfortable victory for the Blues, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Eden Hazard wrapped things up for Antonio Conte’s men by scoring their two goals in the first 11 minutes.

Given how Chelsea’s luck is going at the moment, they’ll take it.

Oh, and we’ll ignore the fact that the game clearly couldn’t know Liverpool have already been knocked out of the competition.

Top scorer – Sergio Aguero and Romelu Lukaku (18 each)

No sign of Harry Kane here, with Sergio Aguero and Romelu Lukaku sharing the Golden Boot on 18 goals each.

Not the most exciting season in terms of goalscoring then, with big names like Alexis Sanchez, Alvaro Morata and Gabriel Jesus not in the top ranking, while bang-average players like Wilfried Bony and Callum Wilson instead lead the way.

Notable manager changes – Jurgen Klopp sacked

After a 1-0 defeat to Watford on 23 December, Jurgen Klopp was finally sacked by Liverpool after an unconvincing start to the season.

By Boxing Day, the Reds had already brought in Luis Enrique as his replacement – not too bad, Reds fans?

Elsewhere, as in real life, Leicester City and Everton changed managers, though they went with different replacements to their living, breathing counterparts.

The Foxes opted for Guus Hiddink over Claude Puel, while Everton went for Lucien Favre – currently at Nice but perhaps worth a shout, Toffees fans?

The other most notable change came as Rafael Benitez left Newcastle to take up the offer of replacing Mark Hughes at Stoke City, leaving the Magpies to ultimately get relegated.

Football Manager 2018 has spoken – you heard it here first.

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Wenger’s lining up a January move…

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is reportedly ready to make a £30million move to sign Leicester City star Riyad Mahrez in the January transfer window.

The Gunners boss could be forced into action in the transfer market this winter amid doubts over the futures of both Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil.

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The Daily Mail recently reported that Sanchez is set to be a target for Manchester City again in the middle of the season, with he and Ozil nearing the ends of their contracts at the Emirates Stadium.

Wenger also refused to rule out selling the pair when asked about it in his press conference earlier this week, with the Daily Mirror quoting him as saying: ‘Once you are in our kind of situation we have envisaged every kind of solution yes. Yes, it’s possible.’

The Mirror now report that Mahrez is emerging as a £30m target for Arsenal, with the Algerian known to have wanted to leave Leicester during the summer.

Mahrez to finally get his wish?

The Independent reported back in May that Mahrez asked to quit the King Power Stadium, and that he’d also been approached by the north Londoners the previous year.

On that occasion Mahrez decided to stay with the Foxes after their shock Premier League title win, which gained them entry into the Champions League for the 2016/17 season and put them in a stronger negotiating position not to sell.

The Mirror now claim Leicester may have softened their stance on the 26-year-old, with Arsenal joined by rivals Tottenham in lining up a January move.

Manager Craig Shakespeare is said to want to do some spending himself this winter, and could now be tempted to cash in on Mahrez to help bolster his squad in other areas.

Mahrez – worth the gamble?

Despite winning PFA Player of the Year after a series of dazzling displays in the 2015/16 season, it remains to be seen if Mahrez truly has the consistency to make it at a bigger club.

However, if the tricky winger were to rediscover that form that played such a key role in guiding Leicester to the title, there’s no question he could ease the blow of Arsenal losing two big names like Sanchez and Ozil.

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Leicester City fans have been selling horrendous-looking half-and-half scarfs containing both manager’s faces on them before their side’s Premier League fixture against Liverpool this evening.

The scarfs, which containing weird-looking faces of both Craig Shakespeare and Jurgen Klopp on them, are absolute nightmare-fuel, and I doubt those fans would’ve sold many, if not any, before the match.

With an awful idea such as this, it makes you realise just how cringey modern football has become, with it being unknowned as to when these cringe-inducing ideas will be put to bed.

Shakespeare and Klopp half and half scarves on sale outside the King Power #LFC pic.twitter.com/J4pTPe1Pba

— James Pearce (@JamesPearceEcho) September 23, 2017

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Manchester United and England star Chris Smalling is being eyed up by fellow Premier League side Leicester City this summer, with the player having fallen down the pecking order at Old Trafford this season, as per the Sun.

Smalling, 27, is being targeted by Foxes boss Craig Shakespeare, as the Leicester manager sees the experienced defender as the perfect partner for new signing Harry Maguire at the King Power this season, according to the Sun.

As reported by the Sun, Smalling has been forced to sit on the sidelines at Old Trafford so far this season due to the big-money arrivals of Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof, with boss Jose Mourinho preferring the partnership of Bailly and Phil Jones at the heart of his Red Devils defence.

Shakespeare is hoping that the signing of Smalling is going to bolster his side’s backline, as the Foxes have endured a shaky start to their league campaign this season, report the Sun.

Although the club seem ready to offload Smalling this summer, Mourinho has appeared in no rush to sell the England international, as written by the Sun.

Should Smalling end up leaving United in the remaining days of the transfer window, it’ll be interesting to see if the defender can rediscover the form we saw him achieve at United during his early days at the club.

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Chelsea are set to up their offer for Leicester City and England star Danny Drinkwater, with the Blues set to come in with a £32M bid to try and test the Foxes’ resolve over the player, as reported by the Sun.

As per the Sun, Leicester have been unwilling to sell 27-year-old Drinkwater, with Craig Shakespeare’s side unwilling to budge on their £40M valuation of the England international, and the fact that the player’s contract doesn’t contain a release-clause meaning that the club can play hard-ball over negotiations for the star.

However, as reported by the Sun, Antonio Conte is very eager to get a deal for Drinkwater done before the transfer window slams shuts next week, with the Blues’ latest offer set to fall short of Leicester’s valuation of Drinkwater by about £8M.

Leicester will sell the midfielder should Chelsea’s offer match their valuation, with the club willing to let the midfielder go without hassle, as they understand why the player would want to play for the one of the biggest clubs in England, write the Sun.

Should Chelsea end up upping their offer for Drinkwater and meet Leicester’s valuation, it’ll be interesting to see what role the England midfielder would play in Conte’s side this season.

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Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is eager to bring as many as four new players to the club before the window shuts on August 31^st, with Leicester City midfielder Danny Drinkwater having emerged as one of the club’s top targets, as per the Evening Standard.

According to the Evening Standard, Blues director Marina Granovskaia has stepped up the club’s attempt to bring in more players before the window shuts, with Granovskaia having been away from her office at Stamford Bridge for the past few days in order to pursue the club’s top targets.

One of the players believed to be high-up on the Blues’ targets is Leicester star Danny Drinkwater, who played a huge part in the Foxes’ incredible Premier League title win in 2016, as Blues boss Conte looks to add to his midfielder options before the window shuts, report the Evening Standard.

Drinkwater, who made 29 league appearances for the Foxes last season, still has four years left on his current deal at the King Power Stadium, with Craig Shakespeare’s side looking to bring in at least £30M for the player should he leave the club this summer, as reported by the Evening Standard.

Should Drinkwater swap the Midlands for west London this summer, it’ll be interesting to see how much the Foxes manage to bring in for the midfielder, and whether they spend their new found fortunes on a replacement for the England international.

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Leicester City manager Craig Shakespeare has stated that he is still hopeful of securing a deal to bring Manchester City and Nigeria forward Kelechi Iheanacho to the King Power, according to Sky Sports.

As reported by Sky Sports, a deal between the two clubs had already been agreed in principal for the player, which could potentially rise to £25M.

The finalisation of the deal reportedly stalled due to a number of reasons, with the two clubs being unable to agree on the player’s image rights, and whether a buy-back clause was to be included in the deal, as per Sky Sports.

Leicester have already made three high-profile singings so far this summer, as the Foxes have managed to bring in Harry Maguire, Vicente Iborra and Eldin Jakupovic, with the former champions eager to make Iheanacho their fourth.

Should Leicester end up getting a deal for Iheanacho over the line, it’ll be hard to look past the Foxes improving on the 12^th place finish they secured last season.

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