Leicester City news: Claudio Ranieri backs new signings Ahmed Musa and Nampalys Mendy to be successful

The Foxes signed Mendy from Nice in a deal worth in the region of £12m before Musa, the Nigeria striker, followed five days later for £16m from CSKA Moscow

Samuel Stevens
Wednesday 13 July 2016 13:13 BST
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Claudio Ranieri has backed Nampalys Mendy and Ahmed Musa, who both broke Leicester City’s transfer record within the space of a week, to be successful with the Premier League champions.

The Foxes signed Mendy from Nice in a deal worth in the region of £13m before Musa, the Nigeria striker who Ranieri has branded his “airplane”, followed five days later for £16m from CSKA Moscow, joining Luis Hernandez and Ron-Robert Zieler.

Ranieri is preparing for Leicester's first entry into the Champions League group stage next season and has acted quickly in the transfer market to secure the cover required to manage the increased workload which comes with midweek fixtures.

After securing Jamie Vardy onto a four-year £100,000-a-week contract, the Italian is now tasked with persuading both Riyad Mahrez, the PFA Player of the Year, and N’Golo Kante to agree fresh terms in the East Midlands.

Speaking to LCFCTV from their training camp in Austria, Ranieri said: “I know Papy very well because I put him in the squad in Monaco when he was so young. He played a lot of matches with me and was an important player for Monaco.

“I think he can help us. The character is fantastic, a nice boy. Just like Kante, always laughing, working hard for the team, a very good boy.”

The arrival of Musa, meanwhile, has excited Leicester’s fan base with the club looking to continue with the strategy of signing powerful, fast, forward-thinking players.

“He can bring his speed,” Ranieri added. “I don’t know if he is as fast as Jamie, but it is important to have another airplane in our squad. Remember, we are the RAF and Musa is one of them. The atmosphere in the dressing room is fantastic.”

Leicester will face Oxford United in a pre-season friendly on Tuesday 19 July before participating in the International Champions Cup.

They will go head-to-head with Celtic, Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona before the Community Shield fixture against Manchester United next month.

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