Brendan Rodgers remains one of Tottenham Hotspur’s top managerial targets, according to reports…
What’s the word?
That’s the latest claim from 90min, who suggested that the 48-year-old is still in the running to take over from Jose Mourinho despite his reluctance to leave Leicester City.
Daniel Levy will not appoint Spurs’ next manager until the summer, with the club’s former midfielder Ryan Mason in caretaker charge until then, and the chairman is believed to be infatuated by the Foxes chief.
It is also claimed that he would be prepared to make Rodgers the second-highest paid manager in the Premier League behind Man City’s Pep Guardiola, who is thought to be on around £15m per year.
Should Levy break the bank for Rodgers?
100% – YES!
NO WAY!
Pay whatever it takes
As targets keep coming and going, Levy could have his work cut out to find a viable and attractive manager to fill the vacant role at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Julian Nagelsmann and Erik ten Hag have quickly been ruled out of the running, and even though he seems committed to Leicester, there cannot be many better candidates out there than Rodgers.
Speaking about the interest in his services last month, the former Celtic and Liverpool boss praised Spurs as a club, claiming: “Tottenham is a great club, one of the biggest clubs in Britain but for me, I’m just in a really, really happy place in my life.”
Of course, he’s not going to come straight out and claim he’d be keen on swapping the King Power Stadium for north London, especially as the Foxes are battling for a top four finish, and that will be the centre of his focus.
You can never strictly rule it out, though. Levy has to throw the chequebook at him and do all he can to convince him to sign on the dotted line. If he wants Spurs back competing in Europe, particularly in the Champions League, then he must turn to Rodgers.
The 48-year-old has completely transformed Leicester on and off the pitch. It is looking like back-to-back seasons qualifying for Europe and he’s done that despite losing his best players every summer.
Stars such as Ben Chilwell, Harry Maguire, N’Golo Kante and Riyad Mahrez were all replaced adequately and it’s like the Foxes have never missed out on their presence. This sort of recruitment is desperately needed at Spurs, with the club in dire need of a rebuild.
Another one of his key abilities is to develop players, and there isn’t a better example than Kelechi Iheanacho, who until this campaign very much looked like he wouldn’t hit the potential with which he was once touted at Manchester City.
The 24-year-old has scored 18 goals and provided seven assists in all competitions this term, via Transfermarkt, leading to Dean Windass lauding Rodgers’ influence as “unbelievable” in an exclusive interview with Football FanCast.
With players like Dele Alli, Joe Rodon, Dane Scarlett and many more at Spurs, Rodgers would be very well placed to continue such a trend.
Furthermore, Mourinho has previously waxed lyrical about his former Chelsea coach, suggesting he is “creative” and a “very good coach.”
Only Sir Alex Ferguson has a better win percentage of any British manager to take charge of 50 or more games since 2000 in the Premier League, leading to Gary Neville lauding the 48-year-old “one of the outstanding managers in the league”.
It’s no wonder that Rodgers, who has won 54% of his games in charge of the Foxes, would be a dream candidate for Levy and Spurs. It could cost them an extraordinary amount of money to land him but, if it’s the price they have to pay to get a top contender, so be it.
Rodgers is absolutely perfect for Spurs; it’s as simple as that.
AND in other news, 45 y/o who left “a lasting impression on Spurs would bring shades of Pochettino to North London…