Ranieri wants £12m Nice star Nampalys Mendy as a replacement for Kante

Leicester City had an £8m bid for the tough tackling holding midfielder rejected last summer before swooping on another French club, Caen, for the now super in demand French international N’Golo Kante.

With Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City and Paris Saint-Germain all said to be battling it out to land Kante, Ranieri is planning for life without him at the King Power Stadium and has reignited his interest in the man who respected French scout Didier Christophe called a “carbon copy of Claude Makélélé”.

Mendy has had an impressive season in the Nice midfield, helping them to a fantastic fourth place finish in Ligue 1 that means he will play Europa League football next season, if he is still there that is.

With the 23-year-old having just one year left on his contract Nice may be tempted to cash in on the French U21 star rather than risk him walking away next summer on a free.

West Ham who are set to part company with Barca loanee Alex Song, are also interested, along with Sunderland and Southampton but Leicester are the only one of his current suitors able to offer the former Monaco man Champions League football next season.