Brendan Rodgers claimed he had been “living his dream” at Celtic as he departed for Leicester.
Rodgers has been confirmed as Foxes manager after a whirlwind day of developments which paved the way for Neil Lennon to return to the Celtic dugout until the end of the season.
Rodgers did not outline his reasons for leaving in his statement on the Celtic website and the timing of his departure has been criticised by fans and former players such as Chris Sutton.
The 46-year-old left after Celtic “very reluctantly” gave him permission to hold talks with Leicester following the departure of Claude Puel on Sunday.
And chief executive Peter Lawwell stated the club had to respect Rodgers’ desire to pursue the opportunity to join the Premier League club.
Rodgers, whose contract was due to expire in 2021, said: “It has been a real honour to serve the club and its supporters across the past three seasons. I have been a Celtic supporter all my life and the reason I came to Glasgow was to work for the club I had such love and affection for.
“From the moment I walked into Celtic Park I have been living my dream and, together with the players, staff and supporters, we have been on an amazing journey, which I will never forget.
“To be welcomed in the way I was on my first day at Celtic Park is something I will always treasure. From that day I have given my all to the role of Celtic manager. I would like to sincerely thank the board at Celtic for giving me the opportunity to manage Celtic in the first place and for the support they have given me throughout my time as manager.
“It has been an absolute pleasure to work with Peter (Lawwell), Ian (Bankier), Dermot (Desmond) and the rest of the Celtic board, and together we have done everything we could to bring success to our supporters.
“I want to make a special mention to the Celtic players. They were an absolute pleasure to work with and I want to thank them all for the commitment and positivity they gave to my coaching philosophy each and every day. Every one of them will be a friend for life.
“Celtic is in great hands for the future and I am sure the club is in a wonderful position to continue to dominate Scottish football and do well in Europe, I know that will be the aim of everyone at the club.
“Celtic will always be my club and I wish everyone connected to Celtic – the board of directors, the staff and, of course, the Celtic supporters – every success in the future.”
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