Brendan Rodgers to be named Leicester City manager as Celtic allow him to speak with club

Brendan Rodgers is set to be named as Leicester City’s new manager after Celtic agreed to let him speak to the Premier League club.

It will be Rodgers’s first return to the Premier League since being sacked by Liverpool three-and-a-half years ago. The 46-year-old is expected to bring Celtic technical assistant Kolo Touré, the former Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal defender, and assistant Chris Davies with him to form his backroom team of staff.

Read more: Why Brendan Rodgers makes perfect sense as Leicester’s next manager

Celtic, who are due around £6 million in compensation, said in a statement on Tuesday: “Celtic Football Club today confirmed that it has been approached by Leicester City FC to speak to Brendan Rodgers with regards to their current managerial vacancy.

“Brendan has indicated to the club that this is an opportunity he wishes to investigate further and therefore, very reluctantly, the club has granted him permission to speak to Leicester City.”

Scottish success

The timing of the move has surprised many, with Rodgers on the verge of a historic treble-treble, but the Northern Irishman has always sought a return to the Premier League.

Rodgers has rebuilt his reputation in Scotland, having grown it during successful spells at Watford, Reading and Swansea but then failing at Liverpool. In almost three years at Celtic, Rodgers won the Scottish Premiership twice, Scottish Cup twice and Scottish League Cup three times, and was on course to add the three again.

Leicester have acted quickly to replace Claude Puel, who was sacked after 16 months in charge of the club following a 4-1 defeat to Crystal Palace on Saturday. Leicester had lost five of their last six Premier League matches under the Frenchman and also went out of the FA Cup against League Two Newport County.

Former England and Everton manager Sam Allardyce and former Manchester United manager David Moyes publicly expressed their interest in taking over at the Midlands club, but Rodgers was their No 1 target.

Neil Lennon is expected to replace Rodgers at Celtic.

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Rangers manager Steven Gerrard, who played for Rodgers at Liverpool, said: “I have worked with Brendan so I know he is a very good coach. It seems (the lure of Premier League has been a big factor) otherwise he’d have declined the opportunity to talk to Leicester.

“I’m not really surprised by the timing because these things happen. Brendan has done ever so well at Celtic over the years so it’s no surprise that other clubs are watching him and wanting to acquire his services.”