Who wants nice guy Claudio in when you can hire Steve McClaren, or Francesco Guidolin, or hang onto Dick Advocaat?
Claudio Ranieri was not given much of a hope when he took over at Leicester City.
The club had just avoided relegation, had little money to spend and had just parted ways with old boss Nigel Pearson after some internal shenanigans.
Ranieri was eight months out from an unsuccessful stint with Greece and had a reputation as being ‘The Tinkerman’ at Chelsea. Too many tweaks and changes but not enough trophies.
10 months on and Ranieri’s Leicester City are Premier League champions. They are 10 points clear of Tottenham and Arsenal and travel to Chelsea for Sunday’s finalé plotting, already, for their Champions League bow.
Ranieri is exultant but he is also mindful of the tough period he went through before redemption arrived with a bunch of Foxes.
Shocked Claudio Ranieri is drenched with champagne by his players during press conference https://t.co/sDQhY7gnOo
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) May 8, 2016
In an interview with Gazetto Dello Sport, the Italian reveals he had been contacted by two Premier League clubs before Leicester came calling. He says:
“I was happy [after Greece]. I had so much desire to get back in the game that I would even have accepted a Serie B job. Another two Premier League clubs had contacted me but they made other choices.
“Leicester convinced me with its management, plans, structure and then I got to know a little the family of the president.”
Ranieri also reveals a close relationship with Chelsea boss Roman Abramovich, which he enjoys to this day, and how close he came to getting really big signings during his spell at the club. He continues:
“The only regret is that, for me, he arrived too late [in the summer of 2003] to have a big transfer market.
“It was already July and he said to me, ‘Do you want [Francesco] Totti, do you want [Alessandro] Nesta? I will buy you everyone.’
“But there wasn’t the time to do it.”
Leicester City fans should be grateful that Totti and Nesta didn’t create a Chelsea dynasty that would keep them from their eventual link-up with Ranieri.
