Leicester manager Puel determined to keep ‘wolves’ at bay
LONDON: Leicester manager Claude Puel has expressed his determination to keep Harry Maguire and Kasper Schmeichel despite intense speculation regarding the futures of both players.
Centre-back Maguire, who impressed for England at the World Cup, has been heavily linked with a switch to Manchester United, while goalkeeper Schmeichel has been mentioned as a possible replacement for Thibaut Courtois should the Belgian leave Chelsea.
However, Puel, speaking after Leicester’s 2-1 friendly loss to Udinese in Austria, outlined his desire to keep both players, especially with the Foxes having already lost Riyad Mahrez to Manchester City this summer.
As reported by The Leicester Mercury, Puel said: “I think we can keep both players.
“We cannot lose players just a few days before the beginning of the season. We would not be able to find a solution and we cannot be be behind.
“Kasper and Maguire are so valuable for us. It is important to maintain our structure, our squad and all our valuable players for the team.
“We know all the difficulties after the World Cup, to work in this condition to prepare all of the squad, to keep good mentality and spirit and to find a good level for every player. If we have another surprise before the end of the pre-season, it will be tough.”
United are willing to pay £65million (RM346 million) for Maguire, but Leicester remain eager to keep the centre-back, who only joined from Hull last year.
Kelechi Iheanacho scored against Udinese, but Leicester still fell to a defeat and there is much work for Puel and his players to do before the campaign gets underway on Aug 10th when they face United away.
The transfer window closes the day before that game and losing Maguire at such a late stage would be a major setback for Leicester. Seeing Maguire line up for the opposing side at Old Trafford would be difficult for Puel to take, especially when it is considered that in such a scenario Leicester would be unlikely to secure a suitable replacement in time.
Schmeichel is also a player of considerable importance for Puel’s team and it is vital that he stays if Leicester are to build upon their ninth-placed finish last season.