Former Celtic star Roy Aitken believes Brendan Rodgers will stay despite Leicester speculation 

Roy Aitken knows all about the powerful magnetic pull of the English Premier League. Back in 2007, Alex McLeish was enticed to step down from his first spell as Scotland boss to take over at Birmingham City, with Aitken following as his right-hand man.

Sportsmail understands Leicester City have made their move for Brendan Rodgers to replace the sacked Claude Puel. For the Northern Irishman, there appears to be a decision to make.

Should he stay for either a crack at the treble-Treble or for a historic Ten-in-a-Row – or should he go, like McLeish did, and look to once again prove himself in England?

Former Celtic tar Roy Aitken believes Brendan Rodgers will stay at the club

Former Celtic captain Aitken believes from conversations he has had with Rodgers that the Northern Irishman is already in his dream job and that leaving for the Foxes would, at least, be a huge wrench.

‘The English Premier League is a fantastic league to work in as a manager, coach or player,’ said Aitken. ‘For me, it is the greatest league in the world. It is the most competitive league and a fantastic platform to work on – but so is Celtic Football Club.

‘And any time I’ve spoken to Brendan Rodgers, he thoroughly loves his job and he is enjoying the adoration of the fans.

‘He plays football the Celtic way and has brought in seven trophies – and counting – doing that.

‘Brendan has been linked with jobs for two-and-a-half years now, ever since he came to Celtic.

‘But he and Celtic are a good fit and I can see that continuing for the near future.

‘He is an ambitious manager but his ambitions are being fulfilled at Celtic.

‘He is winning trophies, bringing European football, playing the football the fans want to watch and he’s filling the stadium on a regular basis.

‘He’s got 60,000 people at Celtic Park for every home game and he could probably attract 80,000 if the stadium was bigger.

Rodgers has been linked with the Leicester job following the departure of Claude Puel

‘He’s also developed existing young players coming through the system at Celtic like Kieran Tierney, Callum McGregor and James Forrest. There are others like Mikey Johnston.

‘Brendan loves blooding new talent. I don’t see him going anywhere at the moment.’ While Aitken  believes the ties that bind Rodgers to Celtic Park are bound tightly, another Celtic great believes he will have had his head turned by the Leicester vacancy.

The former Liverpool and Swansea boss has been publicly and privately frustrated this season at his Parkhead board’s unwillingness to pay to recruit quality players on permanent deals.

And ex-Celtic goalkeeper Pat Bonner believes the chance to return to the monied English top flight could prove too powerful to resist.

‘Any manager, Brendan Rodgers included, would be interested in that type of job,’ said Bonner.

Ex-Celtic goalkeeper Pat Bonner feels a return to the Premier League could be difficult to resist

‘It takes you back into the Premier League, it’s well paid and Leicester have the capabilities of challenging for Europe.

‘Whether he would give up this job for it is the big question. He’s well paid also, he’s in Europe, he’s winning trophies, he’s a god as far as the Celtic fans are concerned. Ten-in-a-Row is sitting there for him.

‘Is that relationship with the board and (chief executive) Peter Lawwell as solid as it seems?

‘Or is there still that throwback to the summer when that relationship wasn’t good.

‘Brendan was promised things, they didn’t happen, and they didn’t get into the Champions League.

Rodgers is aiming to guide Celtic to a third-successive domestic treble

‘Everybody knows he needs to strengthen in the summer. He’s a great developer of young players but Celtic need more than that – and that takes money.’ If Rodgers remains, for the time being anyway, Hibs will prove a stern test on Saturday to his hopes of claiming nine out of nine domestic trophies on offer during what could be his final season.

Should he complete his quest, it would be an achievement 60-year-old Aitken believed was impossible during his own playing days at Celtic Park.

‘The best team wins the league but cup matches can go either way,’ he said.

‘If Celtic get it right, I think they will win all competitions. But if the other team rises to the occasion or players are off form, anything can happen.

‘It happened in December at Easter Road when Hibs won 2-0 and it was probably Celtic’s worst performance of the season.

‘The Scottish Cup is the most likely competition to ask questions of Celtic but we’ve heard that for three seasons now.

‘When it comes to the crunch, they keep turning it on. That’s the sign of great players, a great team and a great coach.

‘I would never have thought a treble-Treble was possible in the 1970s and 1980s.

‘In my debut season at Celtic, 1975-6, Rangers won the Treble, but the next season we did the Double. The season after that Rangers won the Treble again. The competition was so fierce back then, with the New Firm and Hearts, too.

‘But to win a treble-Treble would be a remarkable achievement no matter who you are up against because all you can do is beat the team that is in front of you.’ 

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