Leicester City snapped up Ryan Bennett from Wolverhampton Wanderers on deadline day – the deal is a long time coming for Brendan Rodgers.
Brendan Rodgers is delighted to finally be working alongside Ryan Bennett at Leicester City, telling the Foxes’ official website that he tried to sign the defender when he was still the manager of Swansea City almost a decade ago.
On the final day of the January transfer window, two Premier League clubs agreed a deal which came completely out of the blue.
Bennett had fallen down the pecking order at Wolves, even slipping behind youngster Max Kilman, but few expected that he would be on his way to the King Power Stadium.
The 29-year-old arrived on loan until the end of the season and, though Bennett is yet to make his debut for his new employers, the Express (11 February, page 56) reports that Leicester are already planning to trigger a £5 million option-to-buy clause in his contract.
And you can imagine that Rodgers would give this move his seal of approval.
“I was delighted to bring Ryan in. He was a player I tried to take to Swansea when I was the manager there,” said Rodgers, who thinks Bennett can provide competition for the ‘outstanding’ Jonny Evans and Caglar Soyuncu.
“He was a young player at Peterborough, he was a big talent, and he’s gone on to have a really, really good career.”
Rodgers appears to be referring to the winter of 2012, just before Bennett swapped London Road for a Premier League chance with Norwich City.
Speaking to Peterborough’s official website, via the BBC, the Essex-born centre-back admitted that he chose a £2.5 million move to Norwich over the prospect of linking up with Rodgers at Swansea.
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