‘An awful lot of money’ – Celtic senior figure reveals Chinese interest
Brendan Rodgers has revealed that he turned down a massively lucrative contract to manage in China before he took the Celtic job.
He also said that he ignored a lot of people’s advice to take the job at Parkhead.
Talking to The Coaches Voice, as quoted by the Scottish Sun, Rodgers said: “I had plenty of people tell me not to do it.
“I had options to go to the Premier League. I had an option to go to China, to make an awful lot of money.
“But I was a Celtic supporter. I knew the size of the club. I knew the expectations. I knew the fanbase.
“I knew there was an opportunity to play Champions League football.
“Most of all, I knew there was an opportunity to win.”
Football Insider verdict:
It would have been easy for Rodgers to take the money after his Liverpool dream went sour, similar to Manuel Pellegrini after Man City. The Celtic job was a challenge but he’s worked wonders and is now on the verge of a double treble. Next season will throw up a whole new conundrum, with Steven Gerrard set to take over at Rangers and bring the media spotlight down on Scottish football. Celtic are still in much better shape than their rivals and it’s going to take a miracle for Gerrard to mount any sort of challenge. The one thing that Rodgers would love to crack is the Champions League and getting out of the Group stage. That will have to go down as his ambition for next season, while maintaining the gap domestically. Gerrard v Rodgers might be the headline and the narrative that makes all the headlines, but Europe is where the big money is.
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