Ranieri keen to add another central midfielder at Leicester

The club lost midfielder Esteban Cambiasso, who was voted Leicester's player of the year by supporters, as the former Argentina international refused to renew his contract.

(Reuters)

To add to Ranieri's woes, midfielder Matty James is likely to be out until after Christmas with a serious knee injury, according to reports in the British media.

"I want to build the team more or less like last season," said the former Chelsea manager, who was appointed last month at Leicester.

"There are not the two central midfielders who played all the time last season, James and Cambiasso."

Ranieri, who last managed the Greece national team before taking up the Leicester job, has recently added midfielder N'Golo Kante from Caen.

"I wanted to replace one with Kante, and another I am still waiting for," the 63-year-old said. "If it's possible, with the same experience but younger than Cambiasso."

(Reporting by Shravanth V in Bengaluru; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)