Leicester confirm Brendan Rodgers as new manager as he leaves Celtic to return to Premier League

Brendan Rodgers has been appointed as the new manager of Leicester City, ending a trophy-laden two-and-a-half years at Scottish Premiership giants Celtic.

The Northern Irishman returns for his third stint in the Premier League, following spells with Swansea and Liverpool, the latter of which ended in October 2015.

At Celtic, Rodgers won two straight Premiership titles and leaves the club eight points clear of rivals Rangers at the summit this season. 

Brendan Rodgers has left Celtic to become Leicester City manager on a contract until 2022

Rodgers puts pen to paper on his deal alongside vice chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha

The former Liverpool boss returns to the Premier League after leaving Anfield back in 2015

Rodgers says he will ‘give my life to make the supporters proud’ after making the move south

Rodgers said: ‘I’m very privileged and honoured to be here as Leicester City manager and I’ll give my life to make the supporters proud of their club.

‘Together, we’ll be stronger and I’m looking forward to working with the players, staff and supporters to make the right steps forward.’

Leicester sacked Claude Puel on Sunday, less than 24 hours after a disappointing 4-1 defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace.

The Foxes have now lost four home games in a row and have dropped down the Premier League table. They are without a win since New Year’s Day and will hope the appointment of Rodgers can arrest the slump. 

In the latter stages of Puel’s reign at the King Power Stadium, the Foxes were dumped out of the FA Cup at the hands of League Two Newport County, before suffering defeats at the hands of Southampton, Wolves and Palace.

Leicester City vice chairman, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, said: ‘I’m absolutely delighted to bring a manager of Brendan’s calibre to Leicester City and I look forward to seeing what he, our talented, young squad and our dedicated, skilled team of staff can achieve together.

Rodgers was shown around the King Power Stadium by physio Dave Rennie on Tuesday

He will be in the stands to watch the Foxes take on Brighton on Wednesday evening 

Rodgers is seen as a dynamic boss who can galvanise young squad including James Maddison

Claude Puel was sacked on Sunday following Leicester’s fourth home defeat in a row

‘As projects, including the development of our new training ground and the proposed expansion of King Power Stadium continue to take shape, and as a young squad of great potential begins to mature, Brendan and his colleagues arrive at an exciting time for Leicester City. 

‘We’re continuing to grow as a club and I am anticipating that Brendan’s coaching methods, knowledge and experience can enhance our journey.’

Meanwhile, former Celtic manager Neil Lennon, who left Hibs earlier this season, is expected to replace Rodgers in a sensational return to the east end of Glasgow.

Rodgers will be replaced at Celtic by Neil Lennon, who is sensationally returning to Parkhead

Lennon was due to fly to Doha on beIN Sports business on Tuesday but is now expected to shelf that plan to pull together a new Celtic management team. 

The former captain and manager quit the post in May 2014 after winning the first three titles of the club’s seven-year run of domination. Coincidentally, his first game back in charge of Celtic is likely to come against Hibernian in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup on Saturday.

Rodgers had planned to see out the campaign with Celtic in the aim of winning a treble of trebles but there was always a hope at Leicester he could be persuaded to forgo those ambitions for another crack at the Premier League.

He said his farewells at Celtic’s Lennoxtown training ground late on Monday night with a deal agreed at midnight. 

Celtic then said in an official statement that they had given Rodgers permission to speak to Leicester: ‘Celtic today confirmed that it has been approached by Leicester City to speak to Brendan Rodgers with regards to their current managerial vacancy.

Rodgers last managed in the Premier League at Liverpool, where he nearly won the title

The Northern Irishman picked up seven trophies in just two-and-a-half years with Celtic

Former Arsenal defender Kolo Toure will follow Rodgers to the King Power Stadium as a coach

‘Brendan has indicated to the club that this is an opportunity he wishes to investigate further and therefore, very reluctantly, the club has granted him permission to speak to Leicester City.’ 

Chris Davies, Glen Driscoll, and Kolo Toure will also join Leicester as part of Rodgers’ backroom staff. 

Leicester view Rodgers as a dynamic appointment who can galvanise a talented squad and bring through their exciting young players, including James Maddison, Ben Chilwell, Harvey Barnes, and Demarai Gray. 

Rodgers arrives at Leicester with seven trophies in his cabinet from two-and-a-half years at Celtic, adding three League Cups and two Scottish Cups to his CV.

Rodgers had success with Swansea too, taking them up to the top flight through the play-offs

Rodgers will likely be reunited with Filip Benkovic too, who is on loan at Celtic from Leicester

Before heading north of the border, Rodgers managed Watford and Reading in the Championship, before taking Swansea up to the Premier League via the play-offs. 

He left the Swans in the summer of 2012, just months after signing a new contract, as Anfield came calling for the Carnlough-born boss.

Rodgers took over in June, taking the club to a seventh-placed finish in his first season in charge. The 2013-14 season, though, was far more memorable as Liverpool came close to securing their first league title since 1990.

They slipped at the final hurdle, though, despite being five points clear with just three games to play. A 2-0 defeat by Chelsea was followed by a 3-3 draw at Palace despite being 3-0 up with just 11 minutes to play, letting Manchester City leapfrog them at the top.