Arne Slot's Celtic sliding doors moment as Tottenham snub recast Brendan Rodgers in Champions League role

Ange Postecoglou's departure for Tottenham opened the door for brendan Rodgers to make his return to Celtic. But it could have been oh so different.

The Aussie wasn't Spurs' first choice to replace Antonio Conte, with owner Daniel Levy having already made eyes at former Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann and flirted with the idea of bringing Mauricio Pochettino back to North Landon before he opted to join Chelsea. But last May, Feyenoord boss Arne Slot emerged as a leading candidate to take over at Tottenham. Slot held talks but ultimately, opted to stay in Rotterdam and it weas that snub that forced Spurs back to the drawing board and catapulted Postecoglou to the top of the list.

Now Slot welcomes Rodgers to De Kuip as the Dutch champions host Celtic in their Champions League Group E opener. However, had the Dutchman opted to head to England, then it's highly likely neither would find themselves in this situation. Postecoglou was a man in demand, but it ultimately took one of Europe's top jobs to lure him away from Glasgow.

Had Slot said yes, then the Spurs gig doesn't get offered and Ange has a Treble to defend, along with another crack at top level European football, which would have made staying at Celtic an attractive proposition. Better results in Europe would have been top of the agenda, and a kinder draw on paper this term would have made that a realistic aim.

As it is, Slot gets his Champions League wish, which was part of the reason he said to to the offer Postecoglou accepted.. He explained his decision to stick with the Dutch giants, saying: "We are going to play in the Champions League, which I’ve never done before as a player and as a coach.

"The club is in a real good place. And I want to work longer