Premier League Champions warn United, no players will be sold to you!!
Sep 24, 2016 at 12:47 PM
Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri has poured cold water on rumours that key midfielder Danny Drinkwater could leave the club and rejoin his former club Manchester united.
Latest reports this week linked the Red Devils with an audacious approach to resigning their former youth player in an attempt to get the balance of their midfield right.
Drinkwater was an essential member of the Leicester side that shocked the world and won the Premier League title last season, with the combative midfielder the side’s leader from the boiler room.
He was unlucky not to be selected for England’s Euro 2016 squad and recently signed a new contract to keep him at the King Power Stadium.
Ranieri has stated that Drinkwater is an essential member of the Leicester squad and his extended terms guaranteed that the midfield general would not be leaving the club anytime soon.
“This is a good process to improve because one year ago nobody was asking about our players,” the Italian told The Guardian.
“Now there are big, big teams [interested] and my players must be very proud of this but maintain their way. Then if something happens, it’s OK.
“But [Drinkwater] signed a new contract and I think he doesn’t have a clause, so if Manchester United want him it is OK. We don’t want to sell anybody.
“We want to keep our players and we showed this. We only lose Kante because he had a clause but no other player we lost. We want to keep all the players and maybe improve the squad.”
United will welcome Leicester to Old Trafford is this weekend’s Premier League opener, with plenty at stake for two sides that need to climb the table.
We may only be six weeks into the new season but United are already under pressure after losing their last two league games on the bounce. While reigning champions Leicester needs to pick up after a really inconsistent start.
Jose Mourinho watched his side lose three games on the spin before Wednesday’s EFL Cup win over Northampton. He needs to get more out of his expensive side and Saturday’s clash with Leicester offers a stiff test for the players.
The home fans will be expecting a win here. But given their sluggish displays of late, that’s far from a formality. They are unbeaten in seven home league games against the Foxes and that record needs to continue past this weekend for Mourinho to alleviate some pressure.
Leicester travels to Old Trafford off the back of Tuesday night’s EFL Cup defeat to Chelsea in extra-time. Claudio Ranieri will hope fatigue doesn’t affect his side too much in what is a huge game for the champions.
With only two wins from their first five, Leicester needs to pick up quickly if they are to challenge at the top end of the table for the second year running. They enter the weekend in the bottom half but a win here would be a huge boost.