Ranieri: 'Leicester want a trophy'

By Football Italia staff

Claudio Ranieri wants to take objectives 'one step at a time' with Leicester City, but hopes for at least one trophy.

All eyes will be on the Tinkerman this season as he is asked to confirm and perhaps repeat himself after winning the Premier League.

“Our basic concept is that of starting anew from zero,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “We won the title, it was beautiful and fantastic, we achieved a feat that is perhaps unrepeatable.

“But now it's time to turn the page. At the beginning of the last season the bookmakers rated our victory at 5000 to 1, but now it's 6000 to 1.

“Our starting objective is the forty-point threshold that will keep us from demotion. Once we've got that, we can raise the bar: ending among the first ten, qualifying for the Europa League, a place in the Champions League.

“And maybe even winning a trophy among the five we're playing for: the Supercup, the championship, the FA Cup, the EFL Cup, and the Champions League. This is our plan, step by step.

“The Champions League will be a fascinating adventure, but it burns capitals of energy, especially from a mental point of view. We'll have to learn to balance out this dispersion of strength and prove that we can recover quickly. We may lose a few more games [than we did last season] and that's where our ability will be measured.”

One of Leicester City's great achievements on the market was simply not losing Jamie Vardy.

“It's enormously important. He gave everyone a signal. He could have gone to Arsenal, earned more money and taken the last chance to make it in a world-class club.

“Instead he decided to stay with Leicester and it strikes me as a choice along the lines of Gigi Riva. Vardy deserves our gratitude.

“As for the departure of N'Golo Kante, the loss of one important player is reasonable. I was hoping that everyone would stick with us and listen to my advice, which was to live together the adventure of the Champions League, then everyone could go their own way the next summer.

“But I understand that a club like Chelsea can't leave you indifferent. [Riyad] Mahrez? In Austria he seemed at ease.”

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