Brendan Rodgers made the controversial decision to ditch Celtic for a return to the glitz and glamour of the Premier League last month after the character loving boss replaced Claude Puel at Leicester City, in a switch that did not sit well with the Hoops supporters.
It’s now been revealed just how much Leicester splashed out in order to lure Rodgers south of the border. The compensation fee is a simply staggering £9 million, as reported by The Telegraph.
Hopefully, for Leicester’s sake, it will be worth it. Otherwise they’ve had a stinker. At the time of writing he's overseen one win and one defeat.
Everton love a compensation fee
To put the titanic Rodgers sum into context, Everton shelled out half of that (£4.5m) to Watford - eventually - for Marco Silva after a long-running dispute between the clubs, although it’s worth remembering that the Toffees did previously offer a colossal £10m for the Portuguese coach before he was sacked by the Hornets.
Everton have actually poached a couple of other managers before the whole Silva saga. Ronald Koeman cost the club a whopping £5m after they promised the then-Southampton manager a hefty transfer budget. The Saints supporters weren’t happy at this given that their club had just finished 6th, 16 points ahead of Everton. However, less than 18 months later the Dutchman came unstuck at the Merseyside outfit and is now leading a revival, of sorts, in charge of the Netherlands.
Prior to that, Everton had persuaded Roberto Martinez to part ways with Wigan for £1.5m. In truth, the Spaniard didn’t take much enticing as the Latics had just been relegated after winning the FA Cup. He would last three seasons and is now also in the international managerial arena with Belgium.
Sorry Southampton And The Seduction Of Spurs
Koeman wasn’t the first Southampton manager to leave the club for ‘pastures new’.
The sorry Saints have twice been raided by Spurs who bagged Mauricio Pochettino for just £2m back in 2014 - what a bargain that has proved to be - and previously Glenn Hoddle (£1m) who re-joined Tottenham as a manager in 2001 following a couple of decent seasons at The Dell.
Back in 2008 Tottenham, targeted another south coast side in Portsmouth, with whom they paid a substantial £5m for Harry Redknapp, who had previously won Pompey their first FA Cup since 1939. The Englishman then spent four years in North London during which he led the club into their first ever Champions League campaign.
Other Worthy Mentions
Owen Coyle switched Burnley for North West rivals Bolton, a deal which cost the Trotters £3.6m, a touch more than Newcastle paid Crystal Palace for the services of Alan Pardew (£3.5m). Elsewhere, Wigan’s purchase of Steve Bruce saw the club transfer £3m into Birmingham’s bank account, and Liverpool bagged Roy Hodgson for £2m from Fulham, although it's fair to say the move didn't quite work out for the veteran gaffer, who last season returned to the Premier League with Crystal Palace.