Having lost only three times in 38 league games, no-one could quibble about Leicester’s right to call themselves English champions for the first time.
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Unlike Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur have to juggle European football alongside their domestic aspirations. No more so than when Mourinho and Guardiola renew their rivalry as the new managers of Manchester United and Manchester City, respectively.
Riyad Mahrez, the Professional Footballers’ Association’s Player of the Year, remains at the club, although France midfielder N’Golo Kante has left for Chelsea.
Manchester City just completed a world record fee for a defender signing John Stones for a deal in the region of 50M.
Down the road at Arsenal, Arsene Wenger approaches his 20-year anniversary as manager facing the same old doubts about his capacity to inspire the team to a first league title since 2004.
With Kante moving on, Ranieri has turned to Mendy and Wales global Andy King to fill the void.
Middlesbrough will be looking to hit the ground running in the Premier League, and with four of the gentler fixtures kicking off the season (against Stoke, Sunderland, West Brom and Crystal Palace) it will be vital to get some points on the board ahead of what will no doubt be a long and hard season as we are no doubt in for many twists and turns as the season unfolds.
King knows it is essential to quickly prove Kante won’t be missed, especially given the improved challenges from the top clubs.
Jamie Vardy and Kasper Schmeichel have signed new contracts at the Foxes during the summer with Vardy rejecting a move to Arsenal in June after the Gunners triggered his release clause. Eden Hazard seems destined to go back to his great form and this team will be ready for Champions League qualification once more. We play together and then if the result is a little lucky we can do something special again this year.
“I will start with the same philosophy and humility”.
Stoke City will no doubt provide a tough test for Middlesbrough after a strong 9th place finish last season and with the addition of Joe Allen and the huge boost of having Marco Arnautovic sign a new long term contract, Mark Hughes’ men will be confident of a strong start despite an indifferent preseason campaign.
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Leicester City begin their Premier League title defence at Hull City on Saturday knowing they will have their work cut out to upstage the big clubs again following a summer of big spending.
