Peter Henry
New Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers has admitted that the opportunity to work with the Foxes talented young squad was too good an opportunity to turn down.
The Northern Irishman left his position as Celtic manager today to take over from Claude Puel as Leicester boss, signing a contract at the King Power until 2022.
Rodgers initially impressed as Swansea manager before moving to Liverpool, where he guided the Anfield outfit to within a whisker of winning their first Premier League title in 2013/14.
He would eventually be sacked by Liverpool in October 2015, and moved north of the border, taking over as Celtic manager in May 2016.
Rodgers time at Celtic Park would be hugely successful, guiding the Hoops to successive domestic trebles, but he admitted that one of the reasons he has decided to take the Leicester job is because he felt he had taken the Scottish champions as far as he could.
“It feels great, it’s obviously come very quickly and obviously, of course, over the last few days, but I know I’m joining a fantastic club that has grown so quickly over these last few years,” Rodgers told LCFC TV.
Leicester City Football Club is delighted to confirm the appointment of Brendan Rodgers as its new First Team Manager 📝#WelcomeBrendan
— Leicester City (@LCFC) February 26, 2019
“I’m just delighted to be here. I think there was a number of reasons [why I joined]. I was certainly in no hurry to leave Celtic. Celtic is a club that’s a huge club worldwide, a renowned club, and I loved working with the players there.
“We were on a journey of great success over these last years but when the opportunity came to talk to Leicester and I was able to analyse it, it allowed me to think that I’d probably achieved and taken the club maybe at Celtic as far as I could at this moment.
“The opportunity to speak with Leicester and find out their ambitions and where we can grow the Club and the training facility. Of course, the big attraction for me is working with the players.
“It’s a young squad, a very dynamic squad, it’s got huge potential and you’ve got some of the players with good experience also. There was a number of factors in being here and, like I say, I’m absolutely delighted.”
Rodgers was in the crowd to see his new side beat Brighton 2-1 tonight at the King Power, a win which moves the Foxes up to 11th in the Premier League table.