Football
Mark Rodden 8y

Claudio Ranieri wants to retire at Leicester City - Christian Damiano

Claudio Ranieri's former assistant coach Christian Damiano believes that the Italian will finish his managerial career at Leicester City.

Damiano worked with Ranieri at Parma, Juventus, Roma and Inter and he last visited the former Chelsea boss at Leicester in February.

It was at that stage that Ranieri was beginning to realise that he could achieve something special with the Foxes, who became Premier League champions on Monday after Tottenham failed to beat Chelsea.

Damiano, 66, told RMC that the former Monaco head coach acknowledged that he had found himself in an "ideal situation" at Leicester.

When asked what might happen during the close season, Damiano said Ranieri wants to keep striker Jamie Vardy at all costs -- and had no intention of quitting the club himself.

"In particular he said that Vardy would not leave -- that he was doing everything to keep him," the former Fulham, Liverpool and Southampton assistant manager said.

"He is very happy with his squad... He doesn't want to leave, even if his national team approached him discreetly.

"He made me understand that he wanted to stay there until the end of his career.

"At the moment, he is very attached to this club and he wants to stay there.

"He wants to manage for another two or three years. After that, he'll become technical director and then he'll retire."

Meanwhile, Watford's Etienne Capoue said Leicester fully deserved their title win despite not being the toughest team he had faced.

Watford lost 2-1 at Leicester in November before Riyad Mahrez scored the only goal to give the Foxes another vital three points on their visit to Vicarage Road in March.

"They weren't the best team that I took on this season but the most effective," he told RMC.

"Against us, they only had two chances and they took them. Every time they scored with the few chances that they had.

"But Leicester weren't the hardest team to play against because they left us the ball all the same. They were a great team on the counter.

"What they brought was solidarity. When they attacked, they did so with 11 players and they defended with 11 too.

"What they've done is remarkable -- it's turned the whole country upside down here."

Stoke City player and United States international Geoff Cameron told ESPN FC this week that Leicester's dream season can inspire a lot of other clubs.

And Capoue also promised that Watford would be looking to emulate Leicester by challenging for the top places in the Premier League next campaign.

"Why not?" he asked RMC. "Now everyone is talking about it. The lesser clubs, those who aren't part of the 'Big Four' like West Ham or even Liverpool, are saying to themselves that they can play for the title.

"So next season promises to be really interesting."

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