Puel thrilled to keep hold of Maguire as Vardy pens new deal
CLAUDE Puel argued it was “not possible” for Manchester United to resurrect their move for Harry Maguire but joked that the England defender will be in Manchester “for a couple of hours” today.
Manager Puel also insisted the World Cup star has returned to training in high spirits.
Maguire will be in the Leicester squad for tonight’s Premier League opener at United and Puel joked: “I can confirm he is going to Manchester — but only for a couple of hours!
“I am happy to keep Harry. He is our best player.
“I am a football manager and I want to keep our best players for the squad and for our season. We want to keep good ambition.
“We lost Riyad Mahrez, who was a very valuable player for us, so it was important to keep our best players and have good additions to the squad.
“We have had good talks with Harry and with the chairman and we cannot change things just before the game and just before the end of the transfer window.
“For us it is not possible. It is not serious. We have to prepare for this season with good possibilities.”
Maguire and Jamie Vardy, his fellow England World Cup player, are back in training after extended leave following the campaign in Russia.
Vardy has signed a new fouryear deal with the 2016 Premier League champions.
The 31-year-old has scored 88 goals for the Foxes since moving to the King Power from Fleetwood Town in 2012.
“Everybody knows how I feel about playing for this club,” said Vardy, who added that his time with Leicester has been an “incredible journey”.
“It’s a great feeling to know that I can look forward to another four years as a Leicester City player.”
Puel (below) said: “I am happy with Harry and Jamie. They came back with smiles.
“We will see what happens in his future but I am happy to keep Harry with us and happy with his attitude in general. He has had a good mentality and spirit.”
Puel also dismissed the complaints of Jose Mourinho, the United manager, about the impact of the World Cup on his preparations for the new season.
“All managers have problems but with Manchester United you have a lot of good players — fantastic international players,” said Puel. “All managers in pre-season have problems.
“Manchester United had 12 international players at the World Cup and we had 10.
“It is the same problem and we have had to manage this in pre-season in our friendly matches.”
Leicester have also completed the signing of defender Filip Benkovic from Dinamo Zagreb on a five-year contract for a fee of around £13m.
“He’s a good addition for our squad,” said Puel. “He is a young player for this season but also for the future.
“He’s got good attributes to play in the Premier League.”