Brendan Rodgers’ tenure at Celtic was one with fond memories. The Northern Irishman won two SPFL titles, three League Cups and also two Scottish Cups.
From becoming known as the man to somehow fail to win the Premier League title despite possessing Luis Suarez and Steven Gerrard, he became a serial winner.
He’s now doing a stellar job with Leicester too, taking them to the verge of Champions League qualification for just a second time.
But what the manager has been best at is developing young players into the stars of tomorrow. It’s one of his key philosophies, taking players ditched by their often more established sides and then making them some of the very best around.
Take Daniel Sturridge for instance. Neglected by Manchester City and Chelsea, he went onto score 21 goals in just 29 games in one season in the English top-flight. At Celtic you had the likes of Moussa Dembele, ditched by PSG only to then fetch a £19.7m fee when he left the SPFL.
The list is endless and his philosophy at Leicester is now centred around young and emerging talent too. Ben Chilwell and James Maddison are regulars in the England squad while Caglar Soyuncu and Harvey Barnes have emerged as important players – featuring 55 times between them in 2019/20.
However, there’s one very particular player he would have been drooling over the prospect of managing if he was still at Parkhead – Jeremie Frimpong.
Like Oliver nNtcham and Sturridge of days gone by, he is a Man City reject. The right-back signed last summer and consequently arrived through the gates just months after Rodgers departed for pastures new.
The fact of the matter, though, is that Frimpong has quickly become one of the brightest prospects in Glasgow. “He wears people down,” Neil Lennon quirked last year while also describing the teenager as outstanding and hailing him the best young player he’s ever worked with.
He couldn’t fit more perfectly into the Rodgers mantra – if only he had the chance to manage him.
Speaking to the FA previously, the 47-year-old noted: “I started on a journey to try and make young players feel important and give them confidence to deal with the football.”
Indeed, there have been many success stories that Rodgers has to boast about. Unfortunately for him, Frimpong’s will be Lennon’s very own triumph if he continues to build upon his debut season in Scotland.
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That being said, just imagine if a manager like Rodgers got to craft the 19-year-old’s game and improve him. You only need to look at the influence he’s had on Ricardo Pereira, someone now linked with Barcelona.
In an era where Rodgers and Celtic equalled success, Frimpong would have been a match made in heaven.
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