Leicester to give Rodgers £200m transfer kitty at Leicester with Wilson top of the list
LEICESTER will back Brendan Rodgers with a bumper transfer-kitty.
The Foxes boss, 46, is expected get up to £200million over his three-year contract at the King Power.
And starting this summer the ex-Liverpool boss is ready to target the likes of £40million striker Callum Wilson in the rebuilding process after Claude Puel’s reign.
Rodgers cost £6million to land from Celtic and his new club Leicester will continue to splash the cash after getting their No1 target.
He will get the fund to build on a team that currently has England stars Harry Maguire, Ben Chilwell James Maddison and Demarai Gray.
Filip Benkovic is highly rated by Rodgers from their time working together at Celtic - and the Croatia centre-back will be part of his first-team plans next season.
But there will be other arrivals too and Jamie Vardy is likely to receive support in attack if Rodgers finds the right striker.
Celtic left-back Kieran Tierney also has admirers in the Premier League, with Chilwell attracting interest from Manchester City.
KANE YOU BELIEVE IT Kane escapes red after appearing to headbutt Chelsea captain
But Rodgers will be looking to keep the core of his talent at the club and adding to his squad.
After fending off interest in Maguire in the summer, there is hope he can stay and be a key defender in the Rodgers era.
LATEST LEICESTER CITY NEWS
Maddison has also been tracked by Tottenham as Christian Eriksen’s new deal has not been agreed - but he is also the type of player Rodgers wants in his team.
Rodgers spent almost £300million during his time at Anfield and has been credited with unearthing world-class talent.
Philippe Coutinho arrived from Inter Milan for £8.5million in 2013 and left last season to Barcelona in a worth £142million.
Joe Gomez’s arrival was also on Rodgers’ watch, for just £6million before increasing that valuation by breaking into the England team.
And the £29million spent on Roberto Firmino now looks great value for money with the Brazilian a key man for Jurgen Klopp.
But there were flops in the market too, with Mario Balotelli failing ignite his career with a run of form on Merseyside.
Christian Benteke was his biggest signing and struggled before getting offloaded to Crystal Palace.
And there were others that struggled at Anfield including Lazar Markovic who cost a hefty £19.8million from Benfica and was shipped to Fulham on a free transfer last month.
Rodgers will now be in that market again where he will have cash - but will be looking for talent ready to go to the next level.
Bournemouth striker Wilson has been on Leicester’s radar after his consistent Premier League form since promotion.
He is expected to cost £40million and had Chelsea and West Ham chasing him this season.
His form led to an England call-up and Leicester could be an ideal platform for him.