Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers has insisted that he will not leave the club to take up the Arsenal job.
Brendan Rodgers has elevated Leiecester to second in the Premier League, and a top four contender. As a result, he is by default one of the prime candidates to replace Unai Emery at Arsenal.
Arsenal, under the caretaker stewardship of Freddie Ljungberg, would love Brendan Rodgers. He is young, charismatic, and has ample Premier League experience.
His return to the Premier League with Leicester has restored his credibility as a manager. After losing the Liverpool job, his three year stint away from England as Celtic boss was a shrewd move.
Read: Freddie Ljungberg Draws Away In First Game As Arsenal Coach
However, it’s no secret that Rodgers has an ego. The grandeur of a club like Arsenal certainly appeals to him. It would also be a chance to prove himself at a big club again after nearly winning the league with Liverpool.
He did, after all, leave Celtic, ‘the job of his dreams’, midway through a season. Further cynicism about his loyalty to Leicester arises as a result of the fact that he mentioned the buyout clause in his current contract a few days ago.
“Yeah, the message is clear and it has been and probably I’ll get asked again until they appoint someone, but it’s very simple. I’m very happy here,” said Rodgers.
“I made a choice nine months ago to come here for a purpose. The purpose was very clear in that I wanted to help this club move forward and looking to lead it forward with a group I feel has huge potential. Why would I want to move from that? OK, I moved after nearly three years at Celtic and people may look at me thinking: ‘Right, because a club like Arsenal, with the great institution and size, and all of that …’ But it’s all about happiness and I couldn’t be happier here.
My contract is until 2022 and the club haven’t said they want to release me from that.
“I was asked a question on my contract, talking about clauses and stuff like that there,” he said.
“I gave an honest answer, which was based around probably most managers have something in their contracts, and by all accounts that ‘opened the door’ for something.
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“Logic looks at it and I repeat: I’m very happy here. There’s a lot for us to grow and develop over these next few seasons.
“We’re moving to a new training facility. I respect there will always be this speculation around jobs, and there’s probably a number of other managers but for me, I repeat, I’m happy here, very happy, and have great relations with all the people, and I feel I want to continue with that. Take from that what you want.”
