Celtic boss Rodgers explains flying to London to hold Chelsea talks

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Celtic boss insists his relationship with Chelsea is strong.

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has insisted he has a strong relationship with Chelsea despite media reports suggesting otherwise.

The Telegraph had claimed Chelsea were ‘angry’ with Rodgers after loanee Charly Musonda had barely played, and his 18 months deal was cut short early.

The report had claimed this was likely to cost Rodgers his chance of managing Chelsea in the future.

Rodgers did not agree with this suggestion, and explained in an interview with The Telegraph last night that he had flown to Chelsea to hold talks with the club.

He says he retains a strong relationship with the Blues and has loaned six players from them in recent years, while admitting the Musonda deal had not worked out.

Rodgers said: “On Monday I flew to London and had a meeting with Chelsea about the football and business sides. My relations there are very strong. Charly signed an 18-month loan deal with a break at the end of the season to discuss where it’s at and we both felt that, probably for what he needs at this stage of his career – and what I’d hope to give him – I can’t guarantee.”

Rodgers would not fly out to hold talks with just any club he was loaning a player from, and clearly values his relationship with Chelsea, where he once worked as a coach.

Perhaps he just wanted to do the right thing, or perhaps he was concerned about the reports which claimed his chances of managing the Blues in the future had been damaged.

Taking Rodgers’ comments about a strong relationship at face value, it appears any damage done has been repaired, and the Celtic boss remains in contention to one day land the Stamford Bridge hotseat.

If Chelsea lose the FA Cup Final this weekend and Antonio Conte is fired, Rodgers could end up in contention for the position sooner than he thinks, unless he was bearing this in mind all along.