Brendan Rodgers reportedly blew his chances of becoming Manchester United 's new manager, having initially been ahead of Erik Ten Hag in the running.
The Red Devils' search for a permanent successor to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer began all the way back in November, when Rodgers was the favourite to take the Old Trafford hot seat alongside Paris Saint-Germain 's Mauricio Pochettino, according to ESPN. The Leicester City boss had been impressing at the King Power Stadium and guided the Foxes to back-to-back fifth-place finishes, as well as an FA Cup win. Now, though, Ten Hag has agreed a deal in principle which puts Rodgers out of the race for good.
In reality, Rodgers' hopes had been dashed long before this week, as Leicester's results nosedived during the winter and the Foxes mustered just three wins from 12 games. That run saw them drop out of the Europa League at the group stage and fall far away from the European places in the Premier League.
The Northern Irishman's name slowly drifted away from speculation, while Ten Hag emerged as the frontrunner after further proving himself in the Champions League with Ajax. Interim manager Ralf Rangnick had been lobbying for the highly-rated Dutchman, whose contract with United - yet to officially be signed - will last up to four years.
Rodgers, meanwhile, has managed to turn things around at Leicester, who are bidding to reach the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League when they travel to face PSV Eindhoven on Thursday evening. And with two Premier League games in hand, the Foxes are only a couple of places behind the Red Devils in the table, although need to make up 11 points to catch them.
In the immediate aftermath of Solskjaer's sacking, the ex- Liverpool and Celtic boss dismissed any links to United and slammed them as "disrespectful." "I don't take it as anything, it's not real," Rodgers stated in a news conference. "There's always gossip and that will be there until they appoint a full-time manager."
Join the debate! Would Rodgers have been a better choice than Ten Hag? Let us know your verdict below.
Like Pochettino, he will now be forced to revert his full focus onto his current job, while Ten Hag prepares to wave goodbye to Ajax after a glittering five-year reign. At least Richard Keys is still fighting Rodgers' corner, writing in his latest blog post : "He knows all about the Premier League - and managing big clubs.
"They don't come much bigger than Liverpool and Celtic. Maybe United? I'll let you argue that. Players love Rodgers. Talk to anyone at Leicester right now about that."
