Claudio Ranieri insists Leicester City duo Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez are not for sale
Leicester City boss Claudio Ranieri has outrightly rejected the notion that either Jamie Vardy or Riyad Mahrez will be sold in the January transfer window. The ex-Chelsea manager even termed the Leicester stars as club’s credit card and urged other players to do well too.
The Foxes defeated Chelsea 2-1 at the King Power stadium, courtesy of a goal each from Vardy and Mahrez, which sent the Foxes back to the top of the Premier League table and left the defending champions a point away from the relegation zone. The duo has scored 26 goals between them in the Premier League thus far, and both players have been linked with a move to a host of top European clubs in the past week.
But Ranieri refused to slam a price-tag upon them. “No one can buy Vardy or Mahrez in January,” Ranieri said.
“They don’t have the money and they don’t have a price. We know Vardy and Mahrez are our credit cards, but to do this it is important that the other players play well too.”
The 64-year-old Italian tactician praised the team spirit and compared his team with an iceberg, with Mahrez and Vardy being ‘the pinnacle of the iceberg’.
“I think the performance of Mahrez and Vardy was fantastic, but they are only the pinnacle of the iceberg because behind them there is a big spirit who work and help each other,” he said.
Pre-season target was to gain 40 points: Ranieri
The Foxes were at the bottom of the Premier League table after 16 matches last season and they finished just six points off the relegation zone in 14th by the end of May. The ex- Juventus manager revealed that they had set themselves a 40-points target before the start of the league so as to avoid relegation.
However, the players and the manager himself did not imagine that the team would reach such heights and Ranieri said that he wants his players to keep themselves grounded. He stated that the team wants to ‘continue to dream’ with the fans and acknowledged the atmosphere the Leicester City faithful created for the match against Chelsea.
“I told my players, five more points and we are safe. I put that target at the beginning of the season, and when we achieve 40 points, we will change our goal.
“There was a lot of electricity tonight. Without that, we are a normal team, but with the fans pushing us we are very happy. They continue to dream but we must continue to keep our feet on the ground.
“It’s a magical time, we must continue to work hard because I don’t want to wake up. I want to continue to dream with our fans.”