Claudio Ranieri: Leicester will not sell Jamie Vardy

22 October 2015 17:31

Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri insists the club will not be selling Jamie Vardy or any of their prized assets in the January transfer window.

With nine goals in as many Barclays Premier League matches, Vardy has stormed to the top of the scoring charts and has hit the back of the net in each of his last six league games.

If he scores against Crystal Palace on Saturday, the 28-year-old will join an elite list which includes Ruud van Nistelrooy, Daniel Sturridge, Mark Stein, Ian Wright, Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry and Emmanuel Adebayor in scoring in seven consecutive Premier League fixtures.

Vardy's exploits in front of goal recently saw him make his England debut and it has been reported that bigger clubs are weighing up moves for the former Fleetwood forward when the transfer window opens again at the turn of the year.

However, Ranieri insists they would be wasting their time.

''It is speculation and here is always speculation," said the Italian. "But we won't sell him.

"He's very happy here. It's too early to speak about him.

"He will stay with us. Nobody goes in January - not Riyad (Mahrez), not him, not (Jeff) Schlupp, nobody.

"We want to improve and to achieve our goal as soon as possible so I need, the club needs and the fans need all our best players to stay.''

Vardy is currently one of the leading goalscorers in Europe - level on nine league goals along with Bayern Munich's Thomas Muller in the Bundesliga.

He has scored one more than Barcelona's Neymar and as many as the Brazilian's fellow La Liga stars Cristiano Ronaldo, who has six goals, and Lionel Messi combined.

Ranieri believes Vardy has the potential to get even better.

''I hope he can continue but football is strange," he said.

"It is not important to think about goal or no goal, but it is important for him to think about how he plays for the team.

"I think it is too early to say (he is up with the best in Europe). It is the first year he has shown what he can do in the Premier League.

"He scored 16 in the Championship and now he starts to learn with a big champion, and I hope he can improve again. If he can continue in this way, it will be fantastic."

Vardy suffered a wrist injury during the 2-2 draw at Southampton last weekend but he will play against Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Source: PA