Brendan Rodgers will be in demand this summer, according to former Leicester midfielder and fellow boss Richie Wellens.
But Wellens, who started his career at Manchester United, reckons Rodgers’ “baggage” from his Liverpool days will stop him getting the Old Trafford job.
Wellens says Rodgers has all the qualities for the post at Old Trafford, where Ralf Rangnick is only in interim charge until the end of the season.
He has enhanced his reputation at Leicester and added to his trophy haul from Celtic by masterminding the Foxes’ maiden FA Cup triumph last term over Chelsea at Wembley.
Rodgers’ men are back in action on Sunday as holders in a televised fourth round derby at Championship neighbours Nottingham Forest, who have already knocked out Arsenal.
Wellens expects Leicester to take the competition seriously again, and the Europa Conference League too, with Rodgers’ side 10th in the Premier League.
But though Rodgers, 49, has shown he is worthy of the biggest jobs, Wellens says Rafa Benitez’s brief recent ill-fated spell at Everton underlines how hard it is to manage one of Liverpool’s rivals after working at Anfield previously.
Wellens, 41, assessed: “Brendan has been linked with Manchester United recently.
“He would definitely be a candidate.
“I think it is a good fit but he has been at Liverpool and that is really tough.
“Manchester United are their biggest rivals.
“You have seen Rafa Benitez, who has been hugely successful, but he was under pressure straight away to win at Everton.
“Brendan is a very good coach but having been Liverpool manager in the past is a potential problem.
“Someone like Mauricio Pochettino or Luis Enrique would be better for United because they don’t have that baggage.
“But in terms of the top four or five clubs, if any jobs come up, Brendan would be considered.”
Former Celtic manager Rodgers is under contract at Leicester’s King Power Stadium until 2025.
He has guided the club to successive fifth place finishes in the Premier League and triumphed at Wembley after Youri Tielemans screamer.
Rodgers will celebrate three years in charge this month and snubbed Newcastle to pledge his commitment to the Foxes earlier this season.
But this campaign is proving hard amid injuries to key men like Jamie Vardy, Jonny Evans and Wesley Fofana, who is yet to feature this term.
Wellens, who played for Leicester from 2009-2013, says it is hard to consistently compete near the top without huge resources - especially if top players are sold, like Ben Chilwell and Harry Maguire, who left in 2020 and 2019 respectively.
Wellens, who has managed Oldham, Swindon, Salford and Doncaster, added: “People expect Brendan to be around the top four because of how good he is and what a good club Leicester is.
“With that comes its own pressures.
“It is not like he is a flash in the pan and you think maybe they got lucky that season.
“Everybody believes Brendan Rodgers is a fantastic manager who was very unlucky with Liverpool not to win the League in 2014.
“If you are finishing fifth and winning a trophy with Leicester, that is really good.
“The FA Cup is a tremendous achievement.
“He has changed the style of play from when Claudio Ranieri was at the club playing effective counter attacking football.
“Now he is trying to get a possession-based team where they play through the lines with a lot of rotations.
“I think the next step is to finish in the Champions League.
“But it is always tough when you go into a club like Leicester where they are consistently trying to break into that top six.
“The big six have got really big squads.
“In the Premier League you are only as good as your weakest link.
“Leicester have some really strong players but at the moment they are leaning on some inexperienced players.
“Liverpool or Man City at any one time may have one or two young players trying to get in the team, at Leicester there are five-six.
“That can be a problem.
“You can’t finish fifth and then sell your best players, you have to keep investing and keep building.”
Leicester visit Forest this weekend and then face Liverpool and West Ham in the top-flight before playing Randers away in the first leg of the play-off for knock-out stages of the Europa Conference League.
Wellens said: “You want to try and finish as high as possible but I would try and win a Cup again."
