Swansea City coach Brendan Rodgers is poised to be appointed Liverpool manager after being offered the job by the Anfield club, Swansea said in a statement.
"Following on from discussions with Liverpool's owners, Brendan has informed us that he would like to take up their offer to manage Liverpool," Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins said on the club's website.
Swansea said discussions were still ongoing with Liverpool's American owners over compensation for Northern Irishman Rodgers, who guided the Welsh side to a respectable 11th-place finish in the Premier League last season, their first campaign at the highest level since 1983.
"At the moment we are currently in talks with the owners to agree compensation. We are trying to finalise that within the next 24 hours," added Jenkins.
"Although we are very disappointed to lose such a talented, young British manager, we didn't wish to stand in his way. We will always remain good friends and we thank him for his hard work and passion at this football club over the past two years."
Liverpool has been searching for a replacement for Anfield great Kenny Dalglish, whose second spell in charge ended after he was dismissed following the club's eighth place finish in the Premier League, their worst for almost 20 years.
Wigan Athletic manager Roberto Martinez, who also had a spell at Swansea manager in 2007-2009, also held talks with Liverpool but Wigan chairman Dave Whelan told Sky Sports News that the Spaniard would remain in charge.
"He moves into the second year of the deal previously agreed," Whelan said.
The 39-year-old Northern Irishman is believed to have spoken to Liverpool officials on Wednesday and the BBC reports the Merseyside giants are ready to pay between 4-5 million pounds in compensation to Swansea to secure his services.
Rodgers is regarded as one of the Premier League's brightest young managers after retaining Swansea's Premier League status on a relatively meagre budget just one season after securing promotion from the Championship.
If Rodgers does get the job, it will complete a remarkable rise following his sacking as Reading boss just three years ago.
Since then Rodgers, who regards Jose Mourinho as his mentor after working as the Portuguese coach's reserve-team boss at Chelsea, has completely rehabilitated his reputation.
Swansea's eye-catching style of play earned a standing ovation from Liverpool fans after a 0-0 draw at Anfield in November and Rodgers also masterminded a 1-0 win over the Reds on the final day of the season, as well as beating Manchester City and Arsenal at the Liberty Stadium.
He would take over a Liverpool squad at a low ebb after finishing 17 points away from the Champions League spots that principal owner John Henry had targeted at the start of the season.
The Reds did win the League Cup under Dalglish, but their season ended with a lacklustre 2-1 defeat in the FA Cup final against Chelsea and the new boss will be charged with reinvigorating team sorely in need of an infusion of creativity and pace.
Reuters
Tags: english-premier, soccer, sport, england, united-kingdom First posted May 31, 2012 06:54:23