Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri said it will be harder for his team to successfully defend their Premier League title this season than it was for them to win it.

The Italian added that the odds of Leicester repeating the feat should be even longer this term.

“I’m very curious about this season,” Ranieri told reporters yesterday.

“Our target is again 40 points and then to see what happens. The big teams are ready to fight for the title and we are ready to defend it.

“Everything is different. We have to be clever to repeat (last season’s triumph). It’s 6,000/1. It’s more likely ET will land in Piccadilly Circus.”

Ranieri lost midfield enforcer N’Golo Kante to Chelsea in the close season but said there had been no approaches for winger Riyad Mahrez, whose future has been the subject of intense speculation.

“At the moment, I am very happy with this squad and until August 31 the market is open. If something happens, why not? But at the moment it is closed,” he said.

Champions Leicester begin the defence of their title with a trip to promoted Hull City tomorrow.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.