Claudio Ranieri has admitted that N’Golo Kante’s departure to Chelsea reduced Leicester City to tears, but has issued a calming message to fans of the Premier League champions.
Tireless midfielder Kante was a pivotal figure in Leicester’s shock title triumph of last season but has left for Stamford Bridge in a deal which was worth £32m – fee reported by Sky Sports.
The France international was voted into the PFA Team of the Year in his debut season and England and will leave a major hole in Leicester’s team for their Champions League introduction.
But Ranieri has said that there is no need for Leicester supporters to panic. They have suffered transfer setbacks before and responded, and will do so again, the popular Italian insisted.
“Last season we lost Esteban Cambiasso and everybody was crying,” Sky Sports quote Ranieri as saying.
“Now we are crying because we lost Kante. Don’t worry. Football in Leicester will keep going.”
If there were tears when Kante left the King Power Stadium, imagine the reaction if Riyad Mahrez, last season’s 17-goal and 11-assist PFA Player of the Year, follows him out of the door.
As The Telegraph reports, Arsenal are now well fancied to sign the Algerian, who has reportedly agreed a £41m move to the Gunners. That would be a blow that Leicester may not recover from.