Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri said his owners were prepared to be relegated following the 2015-16 Premier League season and asked the Italian if he would stay with the team were they to be forced to play Championship football in 2016-17.

Foxes vice-chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha told Ranieri during the interview process that the ownership were committed to taking Leicester to the top of the league, but were also realistic about the possible outcomes if things didn't go their way.

Now sitting atop the table ahead of a weekend match against Everton, Ranieri has come clean about what he was told when hired and how he thought the club might fare during the season.

"I didn't believe when I signed my contract that in December we would be top of the league," Ranieri said in quotes appearing in the Mirror. "But two things were very, very fantastic for me.

"One was to hear from my owner that he wanted, in the next two years, to maintain Leicester in the Premier League, then to grow and try to achieve the top places.

"The other is that when the son asked me, 'If everything goes wrong, you stay with us in the Championship?' and I said, 'Yes, I will stay here.'

"This was amazing because there was a balance -- there was a big project but also they wanted me to stay even if everything went wrong. It was important for me to understand this philosophy."