Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Keeper is set to stay put
LEICESTER boss Claudio Ranieri has insisted Kasper Schmeichel will not be sold next month.
The goalkeeper has been linked with a move to Liverpool in January but Ranieri emphatically denied he would leave the King Power Stadium.
Schmeichel, 30, signed a new five-year deal in the summer after helping the F oxe s to a surprise Premier League title win last season.
Liverpool goalkeepers Simon Mignolet and Loris Karius are under fire, with the Reds keeping just five clean sheets in 18 league games, despite Jurgen K l o p p ’s team sitting second in the table after Tuesday’s 4-1 victory over Stoke.
Schmeichel is the Foxes undisputed No 1 and Ranieri dismissed any suggestions the champs would let him leave for any price.
He said: “Kasper has a signature on the contract. We won’t sell Kasper under any circumstances. We don’t need money. No chance.
“I’m sorry for Liverpool, they can win t he title without Kasper.”
Schmeichel kept 15 clean sheets last season as Leicester won t he league by 10 points and has maintained his form this year, keeping six shutouts in 17 appearances.
He returned from a fractured hand this month but the Foxes’ have won only once in their last nine Premier League games and sit just three points above the relegation zone.
They host West Ham tomorrow after Boxing Day’s 2-0 loss to Everton and go to fellow strugglers Middlesbrough on Monday.