The Two Words Claudio Ranieri Said When Leicester Asked Him To Return

Claudio Ranieri was approached to take over at Leicester City after the sacking of Craig Shakespeare, but the Italian turned down the job, uttering just two words to his former side.

Shakespeare, who was sacked in October after a string of poor results, was the former assistant to Ranieri during that famous title winning season.

Less than a year after the Foxes did the seemingly impossible, Ranieri was relieved of his duties and the rest is history.

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Ranieri has since joined Ligue 1 side Nantes and produced a flurry of impressive results in the league, as his team sit in fifth with six wins in 11 games.

Leicester, on the other hand, have struggled to recapture form of old.

It has now been revealed that The Foxes asked the 66-year-old to return to the club after Shakespeare was axed, but Ranieri said "No thanks" when approached, according to an interview in today's Corriere delo Sport via The Mirror.

Shakespeare may have signed a three-year deal to take the job on a permanent gig, but Leicester were far from happy with performances on the field.

He was the clubs interim-manager following the sacking of Claudio Ranieri in February, but eventually took over the Italian on a full-time basis, guiding Leicester to a 12th place finish last season.

From their opening eight games, Leicester only picked up all three points on one occasion, and failed to win a league match in their last six.

Craig Shakespeare

Rather ironically, Gary Lineker took to Twitter to sum up his passionate feelings, while wanting a certain Claudio Ranieri back at the helm.

His first Tweet reads: "Craig Shakespeare sacked by Leicester. Bring back Claudio."

Not to mention aiming a dig at the regime: "Was always a miracle, but it's even more remarkable really that Leicester won the league given the ineptitude of those that run the club."

Leicester have since hired former Southampton manager Claude Puel as the new boss.

Will he give the Foxes a new lease of life this season?

Let us know in the comments.

Topics: Leicester City, Claudio Ranieri

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare is a writer at SPORTbible. He's interviewed some of the biggest names in sport, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pele, Carles Puyol and Tim Henman. He dabbles in all things sport but football is his biggest passion. He was once hit in the head by a wayward strike from Nicky Butt and lived to tell the tale.

@jackkenmare_