Brendan Rodgers not interested in talking to Tottenham over managerial vacancy

Brendan Rodgers has no interest in talking to Tottenham about their managerial vacancy, and instead he believes Leicester have the potential to regularly challenge for European places, Sky Sports News has been told.

Rodgers has been heavily linked with the vacancy at Spurs since Jose Mourinho was sacked last week, with Ryan Mason having taken temporary charge until the end of the season.

Those links have strengthened since Julian Nagelsmann, who was thought to be top of Spurs' list of candidates, decided to join Bayern Munich in the summer, leaving the north London club to look at other options.

Leicester have already secured their place in next month's FA Cup final and Monday's victory over Crystal Palace means they are now closing in on Champions League qualification, having moved seven points clear of fifth-placed West Ham with five Premier League games remaining.

In addition to this season's success, Rodgers has real optimism for how his young squad will develop over the coming years as they gain more big-match experience.

Rodgers is second-favourite with most bookmakers to take over at Spurs.

Spurs, who lost to Manchester City in Sunday's Carabao Cup final, are seventh in the table - five points behind fourth-placed Chelsea.

When asked last week about speculation linking him to Spurs, Rodgers said: "Tottenham is a fantastic club, it's one of the big clubs in this country, it's a huge club. My focus is purely here.

"I'm at a world-class training facility, the project we're in here, we still want to develop, we still have a lot of work to do here.

"I have a great connection with the players and the board, and we have plans to keep progressing."

Leicester looked set to finish in the Premier League top four last season but just three wins from their final 14 games saw Rodgers' side miss out on the final day of the campaign.

Back-to-back defeats - against Manchester City and West Ham - at the start of April threatened to push Leicester into a congested top-four battle this season, but home wins over West Brom and Crystal Palace have given them a significant cushion going into their final five fixtures.

Wins in their next two fixtures - both live on Friday Night Football on Sky Sports - away to Southampton and at home to Newcastle, could be enough to secure a top-four place if the likes of West Ham and Liverpool drop points.