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A book filled with the love and best wishes of Leicester City fans robbed of the chance to say goodbye to sacked Premier League winning Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri has been delivered to the popular former City boss at his new club.

Season ticket holders Dean Hawthorne and his son Dan delivered an A3 leather-bound book containing hundreds of pictures with messages of good luck to the former City boss, now managing French League 1 club FC Nantes.

Dean, 48, and Dan, 24, of Oadby, made a near 1,200-mile round-trip pilgrimage to Nantes, in Brittany.

Following the shock sacking in February, self-employed electrician Dan set about compiling a book of fans’ photographs and memories of the title-winning former manager.

More than 250 flowed in from around the world, with fans in City kit, some pictured with Claudio, taken in various locations.

In the foreword to the book Dean wrote: “Claudio, the Leicester fans never got an opportunity to say goodbye and thank you for everything you did for our club in the time you were there.

“I wanted to let you know that you will be sadly missed and that you will always be a Leicester Legend. I was sure I wouldn’t be alone and I was right.

“With photos and messages coming from as far as Australia and America, the story of Leicester City’s title winning season truly travelled the world.”

The message alongside Glenn Murphy’s picture said; “King Claudio, you made my dreams come true and you will always have a special place in my heart. Thank you!”

Another, from Denise Botting in memory of Patrick Langham reads: “My friend of 63 years seen here with his wife passed away not long after the Premier League title was won and I will always be eternally thankful to you for making him happy. You brought so much joy to Leicester City, to us all, best wishes for the future.”

Alongside a picture of them all wearing City kit, Dipak, Nakul, Bhavika, Anita, Jaina, May and Uma wrote: “Thank you for giving us something incredible that will stay with us our whole lives. We miss you so much it hurts and are hopeful that someday we will see you again. We will forever be in your debt.”

Dean said: “The staff at FC Nantes were stars. They arranged for us to meet him for about 20 minutes before a light training session before Saturday’s match against Marseilles.

“Claudio thought it was fantastic, looking at it and said he wanted to thank everybody who had contributed to it.

(Image: DRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images))

“People paid £5 to have their entry in the book and by the time printing costs were covered there was £1,200 left over, which Claudio asked us to donate to the Leicester Hospitals Children’s Charity.

“We didn’t talk about his sacking, but he was really made up with the book and arranged tickets for the game for Dan and I.

“It was a good old trek down there, but it was well worth it. It was something I needed to do.

“The book summed up the love and respect that Leicester fans from all over the world will always have for him.”