Ranieri pleads with his ‘kings’ to stay at Leicester Claudio Ranieri
Claudio Ranieri

Claudio Ranieri

LEICESTER — Claudio Ranieri has told his English Premier League soccer champions to stay at Leicester where they are “kings”.

After their stunning title triumph, PFA player of the year Riyad Mahrez, top scorer Jamie Vardy and midfield dynamo N’Golo Kante are being courted by bigger clubs.

But Ranieri said: “If you go away you don’t know what happens, here you’re the king. It’s important to choose very well for the lads because now for me they’re my sons.

“If they come to me I say this: ‘Be careful’. Leicester in the long-term will be in a very high position.

“If you go away, what happens? It’s much better to stay here one year more and look what happens, then maybe you can go anywhere.

“The Champions League is another important league to compare yourself to the other champions.

“You maybe change a team and go in the big teams but maybe you don’t start very well and stay outside the first 11, you slow down.”

But according to The Sun, Chelsea and Arsenal will step up their efforts to sign Kante with despite Leicester’s boss  Ranieri pleading with him to stay at the Premier League champions.

Kante has emerged as one of the biggest summer targets in Europe after becoming the driving force in the side that won the title this season.

Boss Ranieri is desperate for the 25-year-old midfielder to commit his future to Leicester, but a host of Europe’s top clubs are circling.

French champions Paris Saint Germain have already made contact about a summer deal after learning Kante has a £19.7million release clause in his contract.

The midfielder, who is likely to be part of France’s Euro 2016 squad, still has another three years to run on his current deal at the King Power Stadium worth just £25,000-per-week. But Leicester are ready to double his wages in an effort to keep hold of the man Ranieri believes has been one of the most important cogs in the side who secured the title on Monday night.

That has not put off London giants Chelsea or Arsenal who are both on the hunt for a midfielder who can destroy opposition attacks and who is young enough to be around for several years.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has had Kante watched several times in recent weeks and is hoping to persuade his compatriat that the Emirates is where he should spend the next stage of his career.

But Chelsea have other ideas and incoming manager Antonio Conte has indicated he believes Kante is exactly the type of player the Blues need as they overhaul their squad this summer.

PSG know they have the financial clout to pull off a deal and match any contract demands, but Kante is understood to be happy with life in England and prefers to stay in the Premier League.

Leicester will bank £93million from winning the title and are also in the group stages of the Champions League which will guarantee a further £30m in prize money and TV rights.

But when quizzed about his spending plans, Ranieri added: “We don’t need superstars, we need our players. I want to improve the squad without big stars but with right players.”

Ranieri also believes that it will take up to 20 years for an unfancied team to emulate his side’s achievement by winning the Premier League title.

Leicester defied odds of 5,000-1 to prevail ahead of the division’s glamour clubs, captivating fans around the world and turning their previously unheralded players into household names.

Ranieri’s side are only the sixth team to have won the Premier League, as the English top tier was rebranded in 1992, and the Italian does not foresee another unlikely champion emerging anytime soon.

“Big money makes the big teams and usually the big teams win, but now we can only say 99 percent,” he said, in comments published by several British newspapers yesterday. — BBC Sport

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