Winners & losers if Brendan Rodgers takes charge at Leicester

Celtic have given Brendan Rodgers permission to speak to Leicester City about becoming the Premier League club’s new manager.

Indeed, it looks like Rodgers may well leave Celtic Park for the King Power Stadium, and the potential ramifications are plenty.

Claude Puel’s exit – a result of the Frenchman’s uninspiring style of football coupled with poor recent results – has opened the door for Rodgers to return to England after a hugely successful spell in Scotland.

But who will benefit from Rodgers’ arrival? And who will feel the negative effects of the appointment?

Here are five winners and three losers as Leicester step up their search for a new manager.

Winner: Brendan Rodgers

Rodgers was sacked by Liverpool in October 2015. A few months later he was hired by Celtic, where he has won plenty of silverware but received criticism for failing to take the club into the latter stages of a European competition.

The former Swansea City manager is expected to return to England for the first time since departing Liverpool, and it looks like he has timed it well. Rodgers was never going to get another job at top-six club, but he is set to inherit one of the best squads outside of the top six.

Rodgers leaves Celtic with a somewhat ambiguous reputation. His success in Scotland was impressive, but expected. It remains unclear whether his title push with Liverpool in 2013/14 was down to his approach or the brilliance of Luis Suarez and others, so it’s difficult to judge how he will do back in the Premier League.

Of course, Rodgers thrived at Swansea, which earned him a move to Anfield. If he can get the best out of the current Leicester squad, he will do his reputation no harm.

Winner: Jamie Vardy

Since last month, Rodgers has been attempting to mould loan signing Oliver Burke into a striker at Celtic. The results have been mixed with Burke shining domestically but struggling in Europe, just like Celtic as a whole.

Rodgers will be pleased to have Jamie Vardy, a recognised centre-forward, at his disposal if he does join Leicester. As a result, Vardy is likely to play a key role, particularly with Rodgers favouring the 4-2-3-1 formation that relies on a dedicated striker leading the line.

That’s good news for Vardy, who endured a sometimes fractious relationship with Puel. To the amazement of the supporters, Vardy was dropped to the bench in the recent 3-1 defeat at Tottenham, eventually coming on only to miss a penalty with his first touch.

There should be no such disruption to his playing time under Rodgers, who will recognise the importance of a player who has scored a quarter of Leicester’s league goals so far this season.

Loser: Nampalys Mendy

Nampalys Mendy spent last season on loan at Nice but has returned to the first-team fold at Leicester this term with Puel using his countryman 23 times in the Premier League.

That’s likely to change under Rodgers, who will surely utilise the potential of a young, dynamic central midfield partnership made up of Wilfred Ndidi and Youri Tielemans – the duo impressed against Spurs earlier this month despite losing at Wembley.

Mendy was injured in the warm-up before the Tottenham defeat and was replaced in the starting line-up by Ndidi. Puel’s initial omission of both Ndidi and Vardy for a big game was indicative of the decision-making that turned so many Leicester fans against him.

With that in mind, Rodgers will immediately get the supporters on board by picking Ndidi and Tielemans ahead of Mendy from the start.

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Loser: Celtic

Celtic are eight points clear of Rangers in the SPL title race with six games remaining. Even with Rodgers set to leave, it would take a capitulation for the champions to concede their crown at this late stage.

That said, the club could do without the interruption of losing their manger during the run-in. On top of that, Celtic remain in the Scottish Cup, where they could face Rangers in the semi-final or final if they overcome Hibernian in the quarter-finals.

It’s difficult to imagine how Rodgers’ exit will affect the team in the short-term or the long run. What is clear, however, is that uncertainty will reign until a new permanent appointment is made – and that will inevitably influence results one way or another.

Winner: Rangers

As mentioned above, Celtic shouldn’t have too many problems getting over the line in terms of the title race. But Rodgers’ absence will be a boost to Rangers in next month’s final Old Firm clash of the SPL campaign.

If will also give Steven Gerrard’s side confidence if the sides are drawn against each other in the Scottish Cup semi-finals, providing they both make it that far. Rangers won the last derby and will be eager for a repeat of that on at least one more occasion this term.

Gerrard will lead Rangers into the 2019/20 campaign with a sense of familiarity and continuity in the dugout, while Celtic face a more uncertain future with questions around who will be in charge next season.

Winners: Young wingers

Since returning from a loan spell with West Brom in the Championship, Harvey Barnes has made five Premier League appearances but failed to find net. Meanwhile, Demarai Gray has scored just three goals in 24 league games this season.

Those outputs could put Barnes and Gray at risk of being dropped. Thankfully for the duo, Rodgers almost always sets up his teams in a 4-2-3-1 formation, meaning Leicester will continue to be reliant on young wingers to provide a threat from the flanks.

Barnes, especially, has been getting into promising goal scoring positions of late. A confident boost from the arrival of a new manager may be exactly what the 21-year-old, and Leicester’s other young attacking players, needs to make more of an impact.

Rodgers will be looking to get the best out of the likes of James Maddison, too, and will be able to set up with a youthful, energetic attack spearheaded by the experience of Vardy.

Losers: The older heads

If the young players are set to prosper from Rodgers’ appointment, the opposite could be in store for the older heads in the squad.

Vardy and Kasper Schmeichel aside, the team that won the title in 2015/16 is all but gone, with the majority of those players either having left the club – the likes of N’Golo Kante, Riyad Mahrez and Robert Huth – or finding themselves out of favour in recent months.

Captain Wes Morgan is out of contract in the summer and could leave. Full-backs Danny Simpson and Christian Fuchs are very much second-choice to Ricardo Pereira and Ben Chilwell. And Shinji Okazaki hasn’t scored a single Premier League goal this season.

A change of furniture was already taking place during the old regime, but Rodgers is likely to see it through to an emotional conclusion – the title winners will be forever remembered as club icons.

Winner: Neil Lennon

If reports are to be believed, former Celtic boss Neil Lennon is being lined up for a sensational return to Glasgow, if only until the end of the season.

Lennon has been out of work since January after leaving Hibernian under a cloud with accusations of an exchange with fellow club employees. He will certainly feel fortunate to return to the club where he won multiple honours as a player and a manager.

And who knows? Perhaps Celtic will consider appointing the 47-year-old on a full-time basis if he leads the club to a domestic double.

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