Dermot Desmond has revealed Celtic were preparing for a Brendan Rodgers departure over a year before he left - when he was offered a 'transformational' deal in China.

The Northern Irishman sparked outrage when he left Parkhead for Leicester City mid-season. And Hoops fans have still not forgiven their former boss for his decision.

Desmond, though, understood the situation and claims he and the other board members were prepared for Rodgers leaving. The supremo explained how Rodgers had been approached by a club in China with a life-changing offer the previous summer. It was then he knew the Glasgow giants would not be able to hold onto their then-manager for too long.

“What the fans saw was a Celtic man coming to Parkhead," he told The Athletic. "Brendan brought in his team, a system of playing and the players responded to him. As an ex-Liverpool manager he had gravitas, status. He also had the detail – ‘This is how we want to play’ – which the players took on board. He did a fantastic job and was highly professional in his approach to everything.

“He was approached the previous summer with an unbelievable offer from China. I mean, financially transformational for him. He told me about it. We talked it through and it didn’t come to pass for various reasons. But I knew then that it was always likely he was going to go, because he was undoubtedly going to be offered a more lucrative contract in the future.

“It should be stated that no Celtic player or manager ever earned as much as Brendan Rodgers. He was a quality individual who did a quality job.

“So we had prepared ourselves. We knew it was only a matter of time before clubs would make an offer because he is the commodity every club needs — a first-class manager."

Celtic fans were not too enamoured when Neil Lennon was handed the reins on a permament basis after Rodgers' departure. But Desmond explained his thought process behind bringing the former boss back for a second spell.

“Lenny was always on our radar," he added. "Lenny has been a work in progress for us. He’s been that person we have kind-of tutored and he’s learned along the way. The advice we gave him he’s now realised was good advice, and he’s matured and everybody’s allowed to make mistakes. None of them were fatal.

“So we took him back in even though some of the fans thought it was a retrograde step. But you learn more from mistakes, it can change your personality, your modus operandi. We saw that with Lenny and he has repaid our belief in him.”