PROVING TOUGH FOR RODGERS TO TAKE TARKOWSKI
LEICESTER’S pursuit of James Tarkowski is doomed as their £30million offer is way short of the Burnley defender’s get-out clause.
The Foxes are interested in adding the centre-half to their ranks but the Clarets will not be bullied into doing business.
Tarkowski, 27, still has two years to run on his current deal but has caught the attention of Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers and West Ham’s David Moyes.
However, their bids are some way shy of the £48m needed to trigger the move, so as it stands Burnley boss Sean Dyche does not have a decision to make.
The defenders Rodgers now has at his disposal will have to be ready to face Manchester City this afternoon. And the Foxes manager hopes to leave one of the title favourites with a bloody nose.
He said: “Last season we beat Arsenal and Tottenham. We went close with Chelsea on a couple of occasions in the league, when we drew twice.
“Against Manchester City we had one game that was close. Like with Liverpool, we had one close game and then another where the two teams showed their real power and qualities.
“But with all due respect, Manchester City, Liverpool... in terms of budget and where they’re at as clubs, they are at a totally different level to ourselves. That’s the reality.
“We’ve put ourselves in contention to be compared to these teams because of the level that the players have played at. We fell just short of that qualification last year.
“We suffered injuries which showed the depth of our squad wasn’t big enough. Now, with more games this season, we hope that we can add some more players in this window.”