Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has revealed that he was approached by a Saudi Pro League club this summer, but that the offer "didn't feel right".
Ahead of his side's opening Scottish Premiership game against Ross County on Saturday, Rodgers sat down with Celtic legend Chris Sutton for a Sky Sports interview.
Sutton touched on Rodgers' unexpected return to Celtic this summer, asking the Antrim man about coming back to a club where many fans still feel betrayed by his 2019 move to Leicester City.
However, Rodgers moved to reassure the fanbase that he chose Celtic over other clubs, including a presumably lucrative offer from the Saudi Pro League.
🗣️ "I spoke to a team in Saudi. If I wanted to stay in the Premier League I could have. I always wanted to come back to Celtic."
Brendan Rodgers discusses picking Celtic over other offers, his squad, transfers, Michael Beale & more with Sky Sports' @chris_sutton73 ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/lKUCBiA4N7— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) August 5, 2023
Brendan Rodgers: "I spoke to a team in Saudi."
"I spoke to a few clubs when I left Leicester over the course of the summer," said Rodgers. "But it just didn't feel right. I spoke to a team in Saudi, which didn't feel right, a couple of times."
Rodgers certainly wouldn't have been alone in making the move from the Premier League to Saudi Arabia this summer, with the likes N'Golo Kante and Ruben Neves among the hordes that have gone in that direction.
From a managerial point of view, another former Liverpool man has decided to take up an eye-watering offer, with Steven Gerrard signing on coach of Al-Ettifaq, where he has been joined, somewhat controversially, by midfielder Jordan Henderson.
Brendan Rodgers on Celtic return
Rodgers won seven trophies during his first spell at Celtic, including two Trebles, but his task this time around is made even harder by the near-universal popularity of his predecessor Ange Postecoglou, who won a Treble himself before leaving for Tottenham.
"There'll probably be still one or two for whom it might seem surreal that I'm back," added Rodgers, when asked what his message is for the Celtic support.
"But I'm only back for them. I'm back here to do the very, very best that I can. If we are going to have success this year and the remaining years we're together, it will be by being together."
