Claudio Ranieri has claimed he had offers to leave Leicester City in the summer, as speculation intensifies over his future, ahead of the club’s historic Champions League last-16 clash away to Sevilla.

The shock English champions have been in dismal form in the build-up to what is probably the biggest game in their history, with their inability to score a league goal in 2017 leaving them in serious danger of relegation.

That has led to much discussion about Ranieri’s future, but Sevilla coach Jorge Sampaoli has publicly backed his counterpart, insisting he had earned the right to choose when to leave.

The Italian seemed to conspicuously hit back against such speculation, implying he showed loyalty in the summer by deciding to stay and “build” with Leicester despite offers elsewhere.

It is believed that the Italian national team were one of the potential jobs on the table after the departure of Antonio Conte for Chelsea.



“Look, I could leave last season,” Ranieri said. “Nobody could tell me nothing. I won the title, I have something [offers] with other teams, but I wanted to stay here. I came here to build, to build something good for everybody.