Celtic former manager Brendan Rodgers has been lined up for a sensational return to Parkhead and it would be 'interesting' to see if the 50-year-old could 'get things back on track' at the club following his controversial exit in 2019 to Leicester City, according to journalist Dean Jones.
What's the latest news involving Celtic and Brendan Rodgers?
According to The Daily Mail, Celtic chiefs Michael Nicholson and Chris McKay flew to Majorca by private jet to hold 'face-to-face' discussions with Rodgers over a sensational return to Parkhead as the Scottish giants hunt for a new manager to replace Ange Postecoglou.
The report states that the 50-year-old has 'reservations' about taking on the role for a second spell in charge; however, Celtic's major shareholder Dermot Desmond has thrown his support behind Rodgers and the former Leicester City coach is now said to be weighing up a move with further talks expected later this week.
As per The Daily Record, Rodgers has not dismissed the possibility of coming back to Glasgow despite initially planning to take a break from football before returning to either a Premier League club or a stint abroad.
Manchester City coach Enzo Maresca, out-of-work manager Daniel Farke, Bodo/Glimt's Kjetil Knutsen and former Alanyaspor boss Francesco Farioli have also been linked with the managerial vacancy at Celtic.
Speaking to Football FanCast, journalist Jones thinks that despite the sour ending when Rodgers left Celtic for Leicester City back in 2019, the Hoops may look to 'rekindle' their relationship with their ex-manager ahead of 2023/24.
Jones told FFC: "Rodgers himself has always said he would be open-minded to this, but you think about the way it played out after he left. It wasn't pretty the way it ended and it wasn't that long ago. It'd be interesting to see how open he really was to a situation like this and if he's the man they want. He's obviously at the moment getting his head around the fact that things went sour at Leicester and he's got to find his feet again and get back into a challenge. I'm not sure, to be honest, that it's a great idea to go back and I think that if Brendan Rodgers bides his time, there are going to be some other really exciting opportunities for him, but if they can put their little trouble behind them that they did have at the end there, then, who knows? Celtic and Rodgers could look to rekindle and see if they can get things back on track again."
Would Brendan Rodgers be the right fit for Celtic?
When he was at Celtic last time, Rodgers, who was hailed as a "genius", had an unblemished domestic record and won seven domestic trophies from seven available and established himself as a serial winner in Scotland, as per Transfermarkt.
His European achievements at the Hoops can be quantified in different ways depending on what the general public deem as successful. However, he did manage to achieve qualification to the Champions League group phase twice from the qualifying route and took Celtic to a third-place finish in 2017/18 at the expense of Anderlecht on goal difference and a subsequent passage to the knockout rounds of the Europa League.
In terms of recruitment, Rodgers did make some excellent signings at Celtic, especially the likes of Moussa Dembele and Scott Sinclair in his first season at the club, who both went on to be major players in the Scottish giants' invincible treble in 2016/17.
To summarise, Rodgers being appointed as Celtic boss probably wouldn't yield the same fanfare as he did in 2016; however, he is about as safe a bet as you can get to continue delivering domestic dominance in Glasgow's east end.
