Ranieri has ‘rediscovered himself’ in England – Mum

Mark Holmes
Claudio Ranieri: Heads back to Chelsea as champion with Leicester

Claudio Ranieri: Heads back to Chelsea as champion with Leicester

Claudio Ranieri’s mum says her son has “rediscovered himself” in England having guided Leicester City to the Premier League title.

While his players sat down to watch Chelsea put an end to Tottenham’s title hopes, Ranieri took his 96-year-old mother, Renata, for lunch in Rome before flying back to England.

Renata has watched all of Leicester’s matches this season and “burst into tears” after Chelsea secured the draw which handed the Foxes their first ever Premier League title.

Talking to Italian newspaper La Repubblica she said: “At the final whistle I burst into tears. I only heard from Claudio later because my grandchildren and my son’s cousins called. He was so happy. We all are. Now we can finally relax.

“I watched every game; it was a continual series of emotions. He calls me every evening and kept me up to date on everything. This morning I bought the sports papers and saw the headlines. It was satisfying.

“I have to admit, I did not expect him to win with Leicester. He found these players … they are good lads. He told me they always trained as real professionals.

“Naturally it wasn’t a big squad full of champions. I know that he’s happy in England, they always treated him perfectly. He rediscovered himself there.”

Ranieri’s mum also revealed the meal they enjoyed during their Monday meet-up before the Foxes boss rushed off to the airport.

“We had some steak with chicory. Before leaving, he ate strawberries with lemon and sugar,” she added.

“My son has to keep himself in shape, so he rarely asks for a starter. He talked about Leicester a bit, but wanted to relax.

“He was with me for two hours, then said the president of his team had organised a plane to take him back to England. We said goodbye and he went towards the Ciampino airport.”

Renata says Ranieri’s time in England has allowed him to forget his disappointing time at hometown club Roma, where he spent 18 months before eventually leaving in 2011.

“In my view, at Roma he was not treated with respect. In the family we are all Giallorossi fans, so when Claudio was there we were also guests at Trigoria [the training ground],” she said.

“We were disappointed with the way things ended. Look, he won his own scudetto here too, because he went really close, but he arrived after the season had already started.

“Now he’s ‘King of England’, imagine that.”