Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha: Wants Leicester to become a force in the Premier League

Leicester City’s owner has targeted breaking into the Premier League’s top five within three years and is prepared to spend up to £180m to get there.

Nigel Pearson's Foxes are preparing for life in the top flight after taking the Sky Bet Championship by storm.

The club are owned by a Thai-led consortium fronted by King Power Group's Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who has far bigger ambitions than just staying up.

"We want to stay in the EPL as long as possible," Vichai was quoted as saying by Thai newspaper The Nation.

"But we won't take the huge leap to challenge the league's top five clubs immediately. Do we have a chance to beat them? Yes, we have, but I think we need to establish our foothold in the league first and then we think about our next step.

The next challenge for us as a club is to establish ourselves in the Premier League. We're not going to make up the numbers. We want to be competitive. Nigel Pearson

"It will take a huge amount of money, possibly 10 billion Thai Baht (£180m), to get there. But that doesn't put us off. I am asking for three years and we'll be there."

Speaking in Bangkok, Pearson also revealed he had high hopes for next season.

"We have to be adaptable when we play 'big' teams," he said. "But, the important thing is we're going with a belief that we can achieve. I want to set high standards for ourselves.

“The next challenge for us as a club is to establish ourselves in the Premier League. We're not going to make up the numbers. We want to be competitive.

"We've tasted success now. It's important we continue to improve everything about ourselves, so we can challenge for the top five. But, of course, one step at a time.

“The boys are really looking forward to playing with some of the best teams in the world."