Leicester turn to surprise candidate amid Brendan Rodgers concern with Italian ‘expecting call’
Leicester City are reportedly planning to contact a shock manager amid concern surrounding current boss Brendan Rodgers.
49-year-old Rodgers has enjoyed plenty of success with the Foxes since joining from Celtic in February 2019. He has helped Leicester to continue their glorious era by guiding them to the FA Cup and Community Shield last year.
The East Midlands club have also been in contention for Champions League qualification in each of the last two seasons. But after spending most of those campaigns in the top four, Leicester have dropped down to fifth both times.
Rodgers’ men are enduring a drop-off in form this term. They have also been hampered by injuries to important defenders James Justin, Wesley Fofana and Jonny Evans.
Those factors have left the Foxes languishing in 10th place. They also failed to qualify from Europa League Group C, with Spartak Moscow and Napoli reaching the knockout stages instead of them.
Leicester’s most recent disappointment came in the FA Cup fourth round against Nottingham Forest. They put on a lacklustre performance and were convincingly beaten 4-1 by the Championship outfit.
That result saw Rodgers slam his players for being unable to sustain a top level, like their counterparts at Manchester City and Liverpool. The defeat has also led to rumours that Rodgers could be sacked.
Brendan Rodgers may be replaced
Sport Witness, who cite Italian outlet Calciomercato, claim a surprise name could be in line to replace the Northern Irishman.
Milan legend Gennaro Gattuso is the man in question. According to the report, the former midfielder is ‘expecting a call’ from Leicester.
The deal could be orchestrated by infamous agent Jorge Mendes, who represents Gattuso and has plenty of experience working with English clubs. Cristiano Ronaldo, Fabinho and Ruben Dias are notable clients of his.
The decision to replace Rodgers with Gattuso would be a radical one. While Rodgers is proven in the English top flight, Gattuso has never managed outside of Italy. His most recent spells have been at Napoli and Milan.
Gattuso was also a candidate for the Tottenham job in the summer. The two parties began discussions but they were soon broken off by Spurs following fan backlash.
Who are the most inconsistent team in the Premier League?
Leicester man wanted by four clubs
Meanwhile, Tottenham, Arsenal and Newcastle are all reportedly aiming to land Youri Tielemans from Leicester this summer.
The central midfielder has been one of Rodgers’ standout performers since joining from Monaco, initially on loan, in January 2019. He completed a permanent switch worth £32m later that year.
His excellent displays have seen numerous clubs take an interest – Liverpool have been admirers in the past.
Don Balon claims Real Madrid will target the Belgian if they fail to land Sergej Milenkovic-Savic from Lazio.
A move for Real could be tricky though, given the Premier League interest in the star.
Don Balon adds that Spurs, Arsenal and big-spending Newcastle are ready to launch summer bids.
READ MORE: Relief for Rangnick as Man Utd bounce back; complete disagreement on Wolves v Arsenal – Predictions
The post Leicester turn to surprise candidate amid Brendan Rodgers concern with Italian ‘expecting call’ appeared first on TEAMtalk.