Claudio Ranieri: Leicester City ‘don’t need superstars, we need our players’

'I would like to maintain all my players' says Leicester City's Claudio Ranieri of his summer objectives, 'I suggest to everybody this is a fantastic club, here you are the king.'

Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri shown before his team's last Premier League match against Manchester United. Darren Staples / Reuters / May 4, 2016

Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri insists he will snub superstar signings despite winning the Premier League.

The Italian also wants to keep his squad together and told them they will be kings if they stay at the new champions.

Leicester, unthinkable outsiders at the start of the season, have claimed an improbable title after Tottenham Hotspur blew a 2-0 lead at Chelsea to draw 2-2 on Monday, leaving Leicester seven points clear with just two games left.

They have qualified for the Champions League but despite their new status Ranieri will not upset the squad dynamic by buying big.

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He said: “We don’t need the superstars. We need our players. You see we bought Demarai Gray, we bought Daniel Amartey.

“It’s the same, they have barely been with us not six months. I want to improve the squad without big stars but the right players.

“It is too early to say we need five, six, seven or eight players. We have to see, I would like to maintain all my players.

“But if one of my players says to me I want to go there, I try to keep him. I suggest to everybody this is a fantastic club, we won the title, we can do something good in our few years.

“If you go away you don’t know what happens, here you are the king. If you go away, what happens?

“It is important to chose very well for the lads because now for me as well the lads are my sons. Leicester in the long-term will go in a very high position.”

Ranieri remained coy on his own contract situation though after he signed a three-year deal in 2015 to replace Nigel Pearson at the King Power Stadium.

He added: “I have three years. Why do I have to sign a new contract?”

Leicester will receive the trophy on Saturday after their final home game of the season with Everton and Ranieri said it will be a crowning glory, along with one of his first jobs in football at Cagliari.

“Yes, one of the best. I don’t forget when I started, where I started and in which division. I came from non-league, from amateur football, and when I arrived at Cagliari, in the Third Division, and we got to Serie A, that was my first fairytale.

“So I have a little love with this fairytale. Of course to win the Premier League is something. But in my heart there is always this (Cagliari).”

Captain Wes Morgan, who equalised in Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Manchester United, admitted the emotions may get the better of him when he lifts the trophy on Saturday.

“I am going to try to hold back the tears. it is going to be very emotional. It hasn’t sunk in yet. It was a long night celebrating and I am feeling a bit drained at the moment,” he told Sky Sports.

“After the initial euphoria a lot of people couldn’t believe what had happened. There were a few tears.

“I can’t quite believe it. It is safe to say I never thought I would be in this position now. The journey we’ve been on is fantastic. It’s an achievement that might not be achieved again.”

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