Manager was ‘very interested’ in Celtic job and now moves to Saudi Arabia

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Former West Ham and West Brom boss Slaven Bilic is the new manager of Saudi Arabian club Al-Fateh after Celtic opted to bring Brendan Rodgers back to Parkhead. 

Shortly after the departure of Ange Postecoglou to Tottenham Hotspur a month ago, talkSPORT reported that a 54-year-old Croatian was ‘very interested’ in stepping into the straight-talking Aussie’s Celtic Park shoes. 

“Of course, Slaven (Bilic) would be very interested in the Celtic job,” a source said. “They are a massive club with a fantastic tradition and history. These are things that are very important to Slaven.” 

Slaven Bilic misses out on Celtic job

But what Al-Fateh obviously lack in terms of ‘history’, they more than make up for with the depth of their pockets. Bilic was unveiled over the weekend with an inventive, Chat GPT themed social media video, the former Chelsea and Everton defender embarking upon a second spell in the Middle East after spending the 2018/19 season at Al-Ittihad. 

The Saudi Pro League has certainly come a long way since then.

The league is home to Cristiano Ronaldo, Ruben Neves, N’Golo Kante and Karim Benzema these days. Not to mention a player who, in an alternative universe somewhere, is being put through his pre-season paces by Bilic in Glasgow; Jota joining the Croatian’s former employers Al-Ittihad for £25 million last week. 

Bilic’s new club finished sixth in the table last season. Al-Fateh do not have a Ronaldo or a Benzema in their ranks. But they do have former Barcelona, Fiorentina, Porto and Real Betis winger Cristian Tello. 

Celtic, meanwhile, took the rather controversial decision to bring Brendan Rodgers back to familiar surroundings. Rodgers returns three years after the one-time Liverpool boss jumped ship to Leicester City. 

“I know Celtic have appointed Brendan Rodgers,” Postecoglou, Rodgers’ Celtic predecessor, told Football London at his introductory press conference as Tottenham’s new manager on Monday. 

“(Rodgers) is an outstanding manager and (Celtic) will continue to have success. They have great players, great infrastructure, it is a great football club. I was very fortunate to be allowed that responsibility for a couple of years.”