And now the Italian has had his say in an emotional statement.
“Yesterday my dream died,” Ranieri said.
“After the euphoria of last season and being crowned Premier League champions all I dreamt of was staying with Leicester City, the club I love, for always.
“Sadly this was not to be.
“I wish to thank my wife Rosanna and all my family for their never ending support during my time at Leicester.
“My thanks go to Paolo and Andrea who accompanied me on this wonderful journey. To Steve Kutner and Franco Granello for bringing me the opportunity to become a Champion.
“Mostly I have to thank Leicester City Football Club. The adventure was amazing and will live with me forever.
“Thank you to all the journalists and the media who came with us and enjoyed reporting on the greatest story in football.
“My heartfelt thanks to everybody at the Club, all the players, the staff, everybody who was there and was part of what we achieved.
“But mostly to the supporters. You took me into your hearts from day one and loved me. I love you too. No one can ever take away what we together have achieved, and I hope you think about it and smile every day the way I always will.
“It was a time of wonderfulness and happiness that I will never forget. It’s been a pleasure and an honour to be a Champion with all of you.”
Leicester beat the 5,000-1 odds to win the Premier League title last year but are sliding towards the Championship and could be bottom of the table by the time they play on Monday.
Craig Shakespeare has been placed in temporary charge and insists the players did not get Ranieri the boot,
“I am not aware of any senior players going to the owners (to express their frustration at results). That is news to me. A lot of it has been speculation, no foundation,” he said.
“I’ve not had one problem with the players. There was a lot of frustration because of the results but he (Ranieri) had not lost the dressing room.”
But he is confident of turning the club’s fortunes for the job.
“Confidence can go very quickly but it can come back very quickly. My aim is to restore that confidence quickly,” he said.
