01 March 2023 , 11:25
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Leicester star Jannik Vestergaard has torn into his own manager Brendan Rodgers after comparing his situation in the East Midlands to that of Liverpool cult hero Daniel Agger.
The Denmark defender was a £15m signing from Premier League rivals Southampton in the summer of 2021. He has proven to be a disastrous acquisition - the 30-year-old making just 23 appearances over the last 18 months, just three of those coming in the most recent campaign.
He has since claimed that his situation at the King Power Stadium is similar to that of Rodgers’ treatment of compatriot Agger during his final days as a Liverpool player. The Dane was a regular during the Northern Irishman’s debut season at Anfield, only to fall out of contention the following campaign.
Agger was then allowed to move on to Brondby where he ended his career. Speaking to Danish outlet Ekstra Bladet, Vestergaard said: “I think my situation at Leicester is in many ways very similar to what Agger experienced at Liverpool.
“From being highly valued one day to suddenly being completely out in the cold the next without an explanation you can use for anything. In a way, it almost feels nice to know that there is a history that Daniel Agger has also experienced that treatment; from day to night completely out of the blue.”
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“I can also recognise Agger’s experience in that I really felt wanted by Brendan Rodgers,” he added. “While I was at Southampton, I had contact with him a year and a half before I switched, where he called me and we had personal talks, and where he really convinced me that I should switch to Leicester.
Daniel Agger was allowed to leave Liverpool by Brendan Rodgers (Getty Images)
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“I was already very close to switching from Southampton to Leicester, a year and a half before it became a reality. So, Brendan Rodgers and the club knew exactly which player they were buying with both my strengths and weaknesses, and it’s hard to understand that from one moment to the next I’m suddenly unusable. It feels strange, I must admit.”
Amid the criticism from Vestergaard, things lurched from bad to worse for Rodgers’ Leicester on Tuesday evening. The Foxes were defeated by Championship side Blackburn Rovers 2-1 in the FA Cup fifth round - the 2021 winners eliminated by a second tier team for the second consecutive campaign.
Defeat also made it three consecutive losses in all competitions for the East Midlands side after previously losing to Manchester United and Arsenal. They now head into a key relegation battle this weekend ironically against Vestergaard’s former side Southampton.
Leicester are just three points clear of the drop zone ahead of Saturday’s trip to St Mary’s and could potentially find themselves back in the relegation zone should they fail to win and results elsewhere go against them. They then face clashes against Chelsea and Brentford before the March international break.
Rodgers has two-and-a-half years remaining on his current contract and admitted that he was “worried” about the manner of their defeat to Blackburn.