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Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri has given his thoughts on what it would take for the Foxes to defend their Premier League crown. Essentially, Leicester will need E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial to touch down in Piccadilly Circus, London’s equivalent of Times Square.
Ranieri has never been one to champion his own side’s chances, at least in public. Last season, he targeted survival, then the top 10 and finally a Champions League place while the rest of the world declared Leicester City title favorites.
It wasn’t until the final weeks of the campaign that Ranieri finally admitted as much. Now, he’s back to targeting survival again:
“I work to be safe. I say to my fans: ‘We want to be safe, to build a team, anything more and that’s fantastic.’ It’s not normal that we can win the league. It’s more difficult than last season. It’s easier that ET comes to Piccadilly Circus.”
Claudio Ranieri is a jovial man. Photo: @SkyFootball | Twitter
The Foxes were famously 5,000:1 underdogs to win England’s top division last year, and Ranieri believes the odds should be even less favorable this time around:
“I think the bookies have to pay 6,000:1 now. We are ready to defend our title but we know it is a different gap. The big teams will be back, I am sure. They can’t make the same mistake for another year. They lost one season in the life of a big team. There are five, six teams who can win it this year. It will be a good fight.”
However, when asked about Riyad Mahrez and his muted move to Arsenal, Ranieri was much more bullish about his club’s odds of retaining the Algerian magician:
“Never never never has he come to me and said ‘I want to go’ because I’d kill him before he does. He’s a lucky man.”
Leicester City open their Premier League title defense on Saturday against Hull City.
(H/T: The Guardian)
Follow me on Twitter: @ConmanFleming
