Leicester City boss Claudio Ranieri is targeting a top-10 finish in next season’s Premier League despite the club having been crowned English football’s new champions following Tottenham Hotspur‘s draw with Chelsea.
The city of Leicester was in full celebration last night as Spurs’ 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge with Chelsea, after leading 2-0, secured the title for the Foxes, who sit seven points clear at the top of the league with two games left to play.
Leicester were fighting against relegation this time last year before a last-gasp dash for safety saw them finish 14th in the league table.
A year on, Ranieri – who took over from Nigel Pearson last summer – has led the club to their first ever league title, but he does not expect the same success next season.
The Italian began his career in management 30 years ago but, having recorded runners-up finishes with Chelsea in 2004 and Roma in 2010, had never won a league title prior to this season.
“I am 64 years old, I’ve been fighting for a long time, but I was always positive and had positivity on my side,” Ranieri told Rai 3’s Processo del Lunedi show.
“I always thought that I’d end up winning a league title somewhere eventually. I am the same man who was fired by Greece, perhaps someone there had forgotten about my career.
“It’s not as if anyone will forget, but I like to point out I am the same man who was on the Greece bench. I haven’t changed.
“I am staying at Leicester. This is a year that cannot be repeated, next year we’ll try to fight for a top 10 place, hopefully. We must continue to grow and to do well.”
The Foxes have been top of the league for each of the last 15 matchdays and the last time they were outside of the top four was late-October, when they were in fifth place.
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