Chelsea chairman Ken Bates said today manager Claudio Ranieri has no intention of leaving the Premiership club this summer.
Ranieri, who has coached Valencia and Atletico Madrid in Spain and Fiorentina in Italy, is believed to be on a three-man shortlist to replace Barcelona's Carles Rexach at the end of the season.
The Spanish giants claimed they had started talks with Ranieri, who has a year left on his contract at Chelsea and has not yet signed an offer to extend the deal by two years.
However, the Chelsea boss, who does not have an agent, insisted it was merely one of his acquaintances who had been contacted by Barcelona and said he was not interested in moving back to Spain.
Bates, who discussed the situation with Ranieri over the weekend, confirmed Ranieri is happy in London. "I'm quite sure Barcelona would consider Claudio as one of their possibilities if they do change their manager but he ain't going there, it's as simple as that," Bates said.
"As he said to me, 'I have a year left on my contract, I am happy here, I like the English way of life, it's hell in Italy and to a lesser extent in Spain as well. You get hounded and have no private life'"
"We discussed an extension to his contract for another two years which would enable him to see through the job that he wants to do,"
Bates said. AFP