Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers
Appointed Leicester City’s first-team manager in February, Brendan Rodgers has enjoyed a hugely promising start to his Leicester career. The Foxes are currently second in the table after registering eight consecutive top-flight victories.
The former Liverpool manager was on Arsenal’s shortlist after they sacked Unai Emery (h/t The Mirror). Rodgers’ previous contract was due to expire in 2022 but that did not stop the talks of a move away from the King Power Stadium.
A run of eight Premier League wins in a row has placed Leicester just eight points behind leaders Liverpool. Although the Foxes struggled for the past couple of season, they have been a dominant force under the ex-Liverpool manager.
After joining Leicester from Celtic in February in a mid-season move, the likes of Jamie Vardy, James Maddison, Caglar Soyuncu, Wilfred Ndidi and Youri Tielemans, in particular, have been playing superbly.
Though Rodgers steered them to a ninth-place finish last season, there was little indication of the scintillating run of form on the horizon – even more so when Manchester United eventually managed to prise Harry Maguire away in the summer.
Making Youri Tielemans’ loan move a permanent one was a positive step but further additions of Ayoze Perez from Newcastle and Sampdoria’s Dennis Praet hardly constituted a transformative first-team overhaul.
And yet, despite all this, Rodgers’ Leicester have looked every inch a club challenging for the league title. At the back, Soyuncu’s accomplished displays alongside the ever-reliable Jonny Evans have helped fill the void left by Maguire.
In Ben Chilwell and Ricardo Pereira, Leicester have one of the best full-back pairings in the league. With Kasper Schmeichel behind them and Wilfried Ndidi ahead, their defence has accumulated seven clean sheets to date – more than any other side in the Premier League. Ahead of them, Tielemans has consistently dictated play further up the field while Maddison has established himself as one of England’s finest young playmakers.
Rodgers has the Foxes playing with an increased swagger on the ball but they have also kept their ruthless streak as Vardy leads the top-scorers’ list with 16 goals this season.
Under Claude Puel, Vardy hardly made an impact as the manager often started younger players. But now, Vardy is back to scoring goals and is in incredible form under Rodgers.
It might be too much for Leicester to push Liverpool all the way for the Premier League title this season but with Rodgers locked down to a new deal, the future looks bright for the Foxes.
Leicester seem to have become genuine top-four contenders and tying down Rodgers to this deal is a great move.