Rodgers Undaunted Even As Man City and Arsenal Eye Leicester’s Stars

“There’s something special going on at the King power, I have the boards full backing to ward off any January raids for my star players,” said Leicester boss Brenden Rodgers.

Years after fine-tuning his trade in London, Swansea, Liverpool, and Gaslow, Rodgers admits he’s happy to be lord of the manor away from the city. He added that life couldn’t be much better out in the stick and he intends making sure it stays that way.

Currently, Leicester are second in the table, but with the meanest defense in the Premier League, they have conceded eight goals so far.

Even after Harry Maguire was signed to Manchester United in the summer, it’s incredible how they are performing by filling that gap almost seamlessly.

Hotshot Jamie Vardy and England’s new boy James Maddison might be hogging most of the headlines but it’s Rodgers’ stingy defense that has put some of the big-hitters on red alert.

England full-back Ben Chilwell is a target for both Arsenal and Manchester City while Caglar Soyuncu and Jonny Evans are also believed to be on Pep Guardiola’s wish list.

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Rodgers said: “We want to grow. There’s a lot of development left in this squad. Listen, every club will lose players at some point but we’ve absolutely no plans to lose anyone in January.

“Of course there will be players linked. There’s lots of speculation and gossip which goes around. Agents have to do their work getting their clients out there.

“For me, our job is to keep what we have, which is important and if there’s an opportunity to improve the squad we will look to do that.”

One box the board hopes to get ticked is to give Leicester fans an early Christmas present by tying down England’s new boy Maddison to an improved long-term deal.

Maddison, who celebrates his 23 ^rd birthday on Saturday, is fresh back from making his England debut and the club is keen to reward his rise in status with a pay hike on his current £50,000 a week deal.

He’s still got three-and-a-half years of his contract to run but his value has tripled from the £22m Leicester paid Norwich for him in the summer of 2018.

The silky midfielder, who made his Three Lions debut against Montenegro this week, has also been linked with a move to Old Trafford.

Rodgers said: “James has shown that he’s a big-game player. Maybe some people looked at him at one time and thought the defensive side of his game was not so good.

“But that wouldn’t be the case now. His numbers in that department are 50 percent up. He now ranks alongside Jordan Henderson so the tag on his attacking qualities and you have a very good player.”

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