Leicester City have no immediate replacement for Craig Shakespeare, and will now embark on a mid-season search to find a high-profile successor to the former assistant who was sacked on Tuesday just seven months after he was first put in charge of the 2016 Premier League champions.

The club’s owner, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, is understood to want a big name from outside the remaining staff, although Carlo Ancelotti, the leading out-of-work candidate in European football, is thought to have designs on a bigger job – possibly even Arsenal if and when Arsene Wenger steps down. The prospect of a return to management for Sam Allardyce cannot be discounted.

The likes of David Wagner, Sean Dyche and Marco Silva would all fit the bill of coaches proven in the English game to varying degrees but would be very hard to appoint mid-contract and mid-season from a Premier League rival. Leicester will not be bringing back Nigel Pearson, recently appointed by the Srivaddhanaprabha family as manager of their Belgian second-tier club Oud-Heverlee Leuven.

While the sacking of Claudio Ranieri in February was regarded as a necessary step to save the previous season’s title-winners from tail-spinning towards relegation, the dismissal of Shakespeare just eight games into the new season has hinted at problems behind the scenes. He was only given the job on a permanent basis in June and was summoned to see director of football Jon Rudkin on Tuesday afternoon, following a training ground practice match.