Brendan Rodgers has signed a new contract at Leicester City lasting until 2025, as the club look to ward off outside interest.

Leicester confirmed on Friday morning that Rodgers had committed his future to the club by signing a deal to June 2025, amid links to Arsenal. His previous deal lasted until 2022. There were rumours the old contract also contained a release clause.

David Ornstein added that there were two main reasons behind the extension. One was a reward for the obvious resurgence by Leicester in Rodgers nine months so far. The other was to ward off interest from other clubs.

The suggestion in many reports is that Arsenal were the most likely to try and unsettle Rodgers. Given the choice between the second-place side he’s already working with and 10th-place strugglers, it’s not hard to understand the head coach’s decision.

Arsenal will now have to look at other candidates. What initially looked like a long list of potential options grows shorter by the day. In terms of strong, available managers happy to take over mid-season, things don’t look promising.