According to reports from The Daily Star this afternoon, Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri has welcomed rumoured interest in star players Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy.
The attacking duo’s scintillating form has fired the Foxes to third in the Premier League table this season.
Mahrez has claimed seven strikes and five set-ups, ranking him second in the Premier League’s goals and assists charts, whilst his 3.6 successful dribbles per match is a division highest. That’s seen the Algerian international linked with January moves to Arsenal and Manchester United since the start of the season.
Vardy, meanwhile, who The Daily Star claim has been attracting interest from Liverpool and Tottenham, is currently the Premier League’s top scorer with eleven goals in eleven appearances.
The 28 year-old is now two goals and two games away from matching Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record of scoring in ten consecutive Premier League fixtures, and earlier today was announced in Roy Hodgson’s latest England squad.
Rather than shying away from speculation, Leicester boss Ranieri has welcomed it – claiming its a testament to Mahrez and Vardy’s recent performances.
He said; “It’s good because that means we have very good players. One week it’s Vardy, the next week it’s Mahrez but it is only speculation. Riyad is very happy with us. He signed a new contract and the same with Jamie.
“It could affect [Mahrez] at the beginning but he is intelligent. It’s normal when players grow up, they hear about big clubs interested in them. Riyad is young, he can improve, but we are very happy with Jamie and Riyad. We play good football but at the end you have to score. They score. They link very well together, and work hard for the team.”