Craig Shakespeare agrees three-year deal with Leicester City

The 53-year-old stepped in on an interim basis following Claudio Ranieri’s dismissal last February and was later appointed full-time boss until the end of the season

Craig Shakespeare was assistant to former head coach Claudio Ranieri (Getty)

Leicester City have confirmed Craig Shakespeare as their long-term manager after the 53-year-old agreed a three-year deal with the club.

The former assistant stepped in on an interim basis following Claudio Ranieri’s dismissal last February and was later appointed full-time boss until the end of the season.

Shakespeare has now committed his future to the former Premier League champions, saying he was “grateful to the owners and the board of directors for their continued faith and support”.

“This is a really exciting opportunity for me to continue along this new path in my career and to continue to work with a club and a group of staff I’ve grown extremely close to,” he said in a statement released on the club's website. “I’m grateful to the owners and the board of directors for their continued faith and support.

“Our preparations for pre-season and the new Premier League campaign have been on-going for some time, but we can now move on with certainty and ensure we are well equipped to compete at the levels now expected of a club like Leicester City.”

Shakespeare engineered Leicester’s return to form after taking over at the club when just one point separated the Foxes from the relegation zone.

Leicester went on to win their first five games under the Englishman and eventually finished 14th in the league.

Shakespeare took over in February (AFP/Getty)

The side also beat Sevilla in the last 16 of the Champions League to reach the quarter-finals before losing to Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid.

The former Premier League champions had been linked to a number of big managerial names following Ranieri’s immediate sacking, including Roy Hodgson and Guus Hiddink, but the club’s owners settled for Shakespeare and have once again put their trust in the coach.

Leicester vice chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha said: “Craig has shown all the qualities in leadership, motivation and talent management that are required to be successful in this role.

“Those qualities, aligned with his first class coaching acumen, his knowledge of Leicester City and its philosophy, and the respect he has earned at every level of the Club make him the ideal choice to help take us forward.

“Our primary objective for the coming years is to successfully translate the extraordinary experiences of the last two seasons into lessons that will strengthen and enhance the Club’s pursuit of its long-term vision of sustainable success.”