Aston Villa were reportedly the number 1 choice for former Leicester City owner, Mandaric.
Preki (second left) trains with United States teammates
In an interview with the Telegraph, Pedrag ‘Preki’ Radoslavjevic – the one-time favourite for the Leicester City manager’s job – has denied reports that he was waiting to team up with Milan Mandaric at another English club, namely Aston Villa.
Preki emerged as the surprise contender for Nigel Pearson’s old job upon leaving US third division side Sacramento Republic in 2015, claiming to have accepted a UK-based position “at the highest level of the game”.
He failed to appear on these shores however, with Leicester appointing Claudio Ranieri instead, and little was heard of the Serbian-American until June of this year.
Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri
According to Davis Enterprise at the time – a Californian newspaper based near Sacramento – the plan had been for Preki to join Mandaric, the former Leicester and Sheffield Wednesday chairman, in his next business venture, with Aston Villa said to top the 78-year-old’s list of seven targeted clubs within the top two tiers of English football.
However, having returned to the game with United Soccer League side Saint Louis FC – the same city in which he played indoor football under Mandaric during the 1990s – Preki has dismissed the report as “false… not true at all”.
Mandaric explained via the Telegraph: “It was just a conversation with him [last summer] and it was more on his side than mine. Preki used to be my player in America [at Saint Louis Storm] but it is a long time since I had dialogue with him to be honest with you.
Former Sheffield Wednesday chairman Milan Mandaric
“I haven’t spoken to him. I heard he had some interest to come to England but I personally did not talk to him, OK?”
Ranieri’s Leicester went on to win the Premier League while Aston Villa – who were eventually bought by Chinese businessman Tony Xia this summer – suffered their first relegation in 29 years.
Tim Sherwood was Villa’s manager at the time, although Remi Garde, Roberto Di Matteo and current incumbent Steve Bruce have all taken the reins since then.
Former Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood
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