After months of work, Rice was about to sign with the Celtics during Rodgers’ first stint as manager.
Brendan Rodgers, who was on the verge of signing Declan Rice to Celtic during his first stint as manager, maintains he’s learned not to take anything for granted in the January transfer window.
The Celtic manager has made a shocking revelation about how close he came to signing the £105 million Arsenal player for a pittance at a time when Rice was still struggling to break through as a young player at West Ham. Furthermore, Rogers acknowledges that the experience of getting burned on that particular occasion has cautioned him against getting his hopes up when he tries to bring in “quality” reinforcements during the winter window.
Rodgers has made it clear time and time again that he needs to bolster his starting lineup during his trial six months as manager. However, he responded, “Ideally you’d want to get them in early,” when asked if deals for some of his top targets are nearing completion early in the New Year. Contracts can be intricate, and items that were nearly certain for three or four months may suddenly disappear.
“That’s always the problem; all it takes is one injury to derail a player who was supposed to start. I recall that during my initial visit, we searched for Declan Rice for approximately three months. Declan was about to enter the game when an injury occurred. He decided to stay and join the team, and the rest is history.
At the beginning of the 2017–18 season, Rice established himself as a top-team regular with the Hammers. Before completing a record-breaking transfer to the Emirates under Mikel Arteta in the summer, he rapidly established himself as a mainstay in the east end of London and made his way into the England squad.
Now, as he plans for the second half of his first season back in Scottish football, Rodgers is hoping to get his hands on the next big thing. Although he is getting close to signing a number of new players this month, he acknowledges that he won’t be able to finish his intended rebuild until the market reopens for business in the summer.
