JAMIE VARDY has dismissed the idea of leaving Premier League champion Leicester City during the offseason and the England striker hopes Claudio Ranieri’s squad can shock Europe’s elite.

    Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year Vardy took his tally of league goals to 24 this season Saturday as Leicester celebrated its remarkable title triumph with a 3-1 win over Everton.

    The likes of Vardy, PFA Player of the Year Riyad Mahrez and France midfielder N’Golo Kante have all been tipped to make big-money moves following their exploits.

    By the same token, Vardy knows a host of players will be candidates for a potential transfer to King Power Stadium, given the incentive of playing Champions League soccer.

    And the 29-year-old, who was speaking at the launch of his V9 Academy project, is hopeful Ranieri can retain the close-knit feel that has been central to the squad’s success.

    “I’ve just won the league and I’ll be playing in the Champions League next year. I’m happy here,” he said. “There’s going to be names thrown into the hat all summer. But with the group of lads that we’ve got — winning the league and we’ve got with Champions League football next year — you’d hope it would keep everyone together.”

    As domestic champion, Leicester will be among the seeded teams for next season’s Champions League group stages under a change to competition rules.

    Vardy does not believe his team’s playing style will hold any great surprises for the continent’s big sides but expects Ranieri to stick with methods that have proved so improbably successful.

    “We’ve got ourselves into this situation playing that way, so why change it?” he added.

    “A lot of the European teams have probably been watching us. They’ll have to do their homework, as well as we’ll have to do our homework on them. Once it comes to game time it will be 100 percent going out and getting wins.”(SD-Agencies)