Talk of an attempt from Leeds United to hijack Celtic's pursuit of Brendan Rodgers are "wide of the mark", according to reports down south.
Graham Smyth of the Yorkshire Evening Post has rubbished claims of a last-minute move from the Championship side for Rodgers, although the club do rate the Celtic-bound man highly.
Smyth said: "Rodgers’ managerial ability has long been admired at Elland Road and when thoughts turned to this summer’s appointment his was a name that featured prominently.
"But the YEP understands that while Rodgers has not definitively turned the role down, nor has he met with the Whites and thus far hasn’t appeared keen on a return to the English second tier.
Smyth added: "Leeds have been aware since the beginning of their manager hunt that Rodgers’ priority was a top flight opportunity. The Premier League has always felt like the Northern Irishman’s likeliest destination.
"Job openings in the Autumn are almost a certainty and Rodgers’ initial plan was thought to be a hiatus over the summer before he explored his options."
However, Rodgers now looks set to make a dramatic return to the side he managed from 2016 to 2019 in Celtic.
During this spell at the club, he won two Scottish Premierships, two Scottish Cups and three League Cups, as his attacking style of play garnered plenty of suitors.
He qualified for the Champions League group stages on two occasions in 2016 and 2017, finishing fourth and third in campaign respectively.
His exit from the club in February 2019 midway through the season to Leicester City surprised many, with Celtic still well in the hunt for two trophies at the time.
The move proved to be a largely successful one on the whole, as he won the FA Cup in 2019 and the Community Shield the same year. He guided the Premier League club to consecutive fifth-place finishes in England before a downturn in results led to his dismissal in April this year.
Former Borussia Monchengladbach and Norwich City manager Daniel Farke is now the bookmakers' favourite for the vacant Leeds job, with the Germany manager currently out of work following his sacking from the Bundesliga side in June.
