Premier League: Riyad Mahrez happy to stay at Leicester

Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri says his talented forward Riyad Mahrez does not need to join a bigger club to boost his career. Mahrez, aged 24, has attracted interest from Europe's biggest clubs after bagging 13 goals this season. The Algerian international has also provided seven assists for the Foxes, who are leading the Premier League table.

"He wants to stay with us, we want to keep him and that's it," Ranieri said. "He has to improve and when he improves, the team improves and when that happens why would he want to go away? He's a king here." Mahrez was spotted by Leicester at French second division side Le Havre, he joined the Foxes in January 2014 and now he is part of a phenomenal scoring partnership with Jamie Vardy. Ranieri added about Mahrez: "He can grow with the team because if you stay at the bottom and fight no-one knows you but now everybody is talking about you and that is maybe a bit of pressure. You have to manage this kind of pressure. It's important for him to manage this stress. It's important he understands on the pitch is one thing and the TVs and newspapers are another thing."

The Italian boss added that the club don't need to sell Mahrez or Vardy in January, because they are in a solid financial status. "They stay with us until the summer and after that they want to stay with us if we finish in a high position," said Ranieri. "Leicester is starting to build something fantastic and if they stay with us, they can contribute to something good."

Leicester the first team in Premier League history to be top of the table at Christmas after having been bottom of the table at the same point in the previous season. They are 12/1 at Bet365 to win the Premier League this season.