RODGERS: I NEED TO BE A MAGICIAN ON OUR BUDGET

BRENDAN RODGERS believes he would need to be a magician to put Leicester on the same footing as the Premier League’s biggest spenders.

The Foxes travel to Newcastle in the Carabao Cup tonight chasing the only major domestic trophy that has eluded them since the Srivaddhanaprabha family bought the club in 2010. Since Rodgers’ first transfer window as manager in summer 2019, Leicester’s net spend on transfers is about £18.5million. During that period, Newcastle’s is about £300m. Like Leicester, Aston Villa and West Ham racked up respective net spends of £250m and £270m trying to crack the elite.

‘If you look at our net spend since I’ve been here, and compare it to our competitors, it’s a big difference,’ said Rodgers. ‘I’m a decent coach but I’m not a magician.

‘I don’t think there’s any doubt that Newcastle will join the elite. If you look at Newcastle’s net spend in the last year, along with the fantastic coaching of Eddie Howe and his staff, plus the infrastructure, they’re looking to build and create something. ‘They’ll do it wisely and sensibly, but they have the resources to do that.’

Howe has vowed to name his strongest XI as Newcastle bid to make a domestic semi-final for the first time in 18 years. Callum Wilson is set to return to lead the line and Allan Saint-Maximin has declared himself available. Howe knows a sold-out

St James’ Park will not accept anything less than total commitment.

‘We’ll be going full strength to win the match,’ said the manager whose club last won a domestic trophy 68 years ago. ‘We need to be highly motivated for the game and I am sure we will be. We will need real energy from everyone to get the crowd into the game.’