Leicester City’s FA Cup glory could provide the club with a boost in the transfer market, with manager Brendan Rodgers telling potential signings they can “become a winner here”. City lifted the famous trophy for the first time in their history on Saturday and while it brings immediate joy and long-lasting memories, it could also help in the summer as proof to prospective arrivals that silverware is a very real possibility at the King Power Stadium.
Brendan Rodgers said: “When you see those scenes at the weekend – you can become a winner here. The players that won the final at the weekend have created a legacy now and that is something you can do at a club like Leicester City. I think success always aids the recruitment of players, although it’s not the be all and end all. Hopefully Leicester is an attractive club. They can see we’re making progress and I think if players want to improve, and join a club where they will be looked after, Leicester is a really good destination for them. When you win a cup final against such a big opponent, that can let players see if they want a piece of that, and hopefully that can be the case in the summer.”
Rodgers will also hope that the FA Cup success will help his current players stay put. The focus right now is Youri Tielemans. The match-winner has two years remaining on his current deal and is in talks over fresh terms. Rodgers said there were no updates to provide over Tielemans’ contract talks,other than: “He’s a player I love working with. We’ll see what happens over the summer.” The City boss also recognises that it is a tough ask for the club to always keep their best players, with a big-name departure in each of the past five summers.
Brendan Rodgers added: “I think that historically, Leicester are maybe not up there with the biggest clubs,” Rodgers added. “But certainly from a football perspective we would consider ourselves being in that process of being a big club. Listen, it will always happen. I’m experienced now and I sit in the manager’s chair having done it now for a number of years and I understand how the game works. Players will move on – not just from Leicester – players will move on from Real Madrid, Barcelona and Liverpool. Every team will lose players and none more so than us here at Leicester in terms of what has happened since the team won the title. So I’m not going to sit here naively and say winning the FA Cup will ensure our players will stay. But what we can do is create this incredible environment for players to come in and work, develop, improve.”
