Brendan Rodgers has slammed Jannik Vestergaard for criticising the Leicester manager in an "unauthorised" interview - and is understood to have banished him from his squad.
The Denmark centre-back criticised the 50-year-old in an interview with Danish publication EkstraBladet earlier this month and admitted he has been left baffled by his treatment at the Foxes. He also said it was "strange" that he had not been considered for selection.
Vestergaard has played just three times this season - none in the Premier League - despite Leicester's defensive crisis and injuries in that position. Only Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest have conceded more top-flight goals than the Foxes' 43 as they battle to avoid the drop this season.
Now, according to a report from Daily Mail, Vestergaard has been asked to stay away from the Leicester first-team squad after falling out of favour under Rodgers. It is believed that the former Southampton centre-back is working with a fitness coach on a different pitch from his teammates.
It appears that Vestergaard does not have a future at the King Power Stadium - just 18 months since moving to the East Midlands from Southampton for an undisclosed fee. Vestergaard has actually been surplus to requirements since the end of last season and was linked with a move to Fulham last summer.
The Cottagers were willing to meet Leicester's £16million asking price for the centre-back, but Vestergaard rejected the chance to move to Craven Cottage. He also turned down the opportunity to potentially play regular football at Hertha Berlin in January as his partner was expected to give birth and could not fly.
Ahead of Leicester's critical Premier League clash against Chelsea on Saturday, the Northern Irishman was asked about Vestergaard and reports that he has been banished from the senior squad.
Rodgers said: "Anything that’s decided inside, we’ll keep it that way. I’ll not talk too much on it as it was an unauthorised interview. He said he didn’t know why.
"I had to make sure I wasn’t talking to his twin brother, because I’ve been very clear on his position on the club. That communication has always been there. I was surprised. Anything that happened, we’ll deal with internally. Any success we’ve had has been with solidarity and I’ll always look to protect that."
Vestergaard made his Leicester bow on the opening day of the 2021/22 season when they came on for the final 28 minutes of their 1-0 win over Wolves. He then impressed on his first Premier League start for the Foxes in a narrow 1-0 defeat against reigning champions Manchester City.
However, that is as good as it has been for Vestergaard in a Foxes shirt and he featured just a further eight times in the top-flight last season. In fact, Vestergaard's last league start came in January 2022 against Tottenham.
