© Provided by Football FanCastleicester city boss brendan rodgers on sideline against spurs jose mourinho premier league
Tottenham Hotspur have been dealt another managerial blow after another mooted target ruled himself out of the running this week.
What's the word?
According to the Daily Mail, Daniel Levy's top two choices to replace Jose Mourinho were RB Leipzig boss Julian Naglesmann and Leicester City's Brendan Rodgers.
The former has now been confirmed as Bayern Munich's next manager, taking over from Hansi Flick in the summer, and the latter has played down his chances of swapping the Midlands for north London - even despite reports suggesting Spurs would hand him a contract worth in excess of £15m-per-year.
After the Foxes' win over Crystal Palace in midweek, Rodgers revealed:
"I'm at a world-class training facility, the project we're in here, we still want to develop, we still have a lot of work to do here. I have a great connection with the players and the board, and we have plans to keep progressing
"While I have that energy and the happiness and I see that challenge continue here, I am very happy to be here. You can't stop gossip, and you can't stop speculation. I don't think about it."
Hammer blow
Levy will surely be gutted that two of his preferred targets have been crossed off the list, especially as he's reportedly wanting to make a quick appointment in order to avoid a drawn-out process that hinders the new man's preparation ahead of next season.
Spurs undoubtedly need to bounce back, having endured a nightmare campaign.
They crashed out of the FA Cup and Europa League early, lost yet another final - being defeated by Man City in the Carabao Cup - and are facing a fight to make the top four, and possibly the top six. It's that competitive.
Rodgers would have been a very interesting candidate, given the job he's done at the King Power Stadium and in all fairness, it's no surprise he'd rather stay as they are set for another spell in the Champions League, whereas the Europa League or worse seems likely for the Lilywhites.
The 48-year-old was lauded by his former player, Jamie Carragher, on Monday Night Football (via the Leicester Mercury) this week.
"I think it goes under the radar with what he's done at Leicester. It's phenomenal the job he has done. It really is."
Similarly, Rodgers' transformation of Kelechi Iheanacho - one of many examples of impressively developing young stars - has drawn further praise, as Dean Windass told Football FanCast exclusively that it was "unbelievable."
The Foxes have lost some big names in recent years, namely Harry Maguire, Ben Chilwell, Riyad Mahrez and Ngolo Kante, but you'd never know as the former Liverpool man's recruitment has been second to none.
It's another setback in Spurs' quest to quickly replace Mourinho, Levy will be far from pleased with this news.
AND in other news, Defensive shake-up, Alli and forgotten star make comeback: How Spurs' XI could look under Erik ten Hag.
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