Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho, thinks league leaders, Leicester City, could go all the way to win the Barclays Premier League title this season.
The Foxes have had a tremendous run this term picking up 32 points from a possible 45, losing just once in the process.
League top scorer, Jamie Vardy, has notched almost half of his side’s 32 goals this season with Algeria winger, Riyad Mahrez, providing 10.
Mourinho, whose Chelsea side are the current league champions, believes Claudio Ranieri’s side deserve to be where they are and “why not”, they could be champions.
The Blues travel to the King Power Stadium to face an inform Leicester on Monday and Mourinho says his whole perception about the Foxes has changed.
“They deserve to be where they are, let’s be honest,” Mourinho said on Friday during his pre-match briefing.
“I said a couple of weeks ago I didn’t believe they can be champions and maybe I have to think twice because it’s one thing to be top in September after a beautiful start, another is to be top in December, that’s a completely different story, so if they are there and get result after result, it’s because they can win the title.
“It would be something magnificent, something to impress the football world but sometimes these things can happen, so why not?”
Mourinho, who replaced Ranieri as Chelsea coach in 2004 when he first arrived at Stamford Bridge, reserved praises for his predecessor for turning a struggling team into title contenders.
The Portuguese tactician disclosed that his Italian counterpart should be “manager of half-term” after a successful six months on his return to England.
“He (Ranieri) is going to win the manager of the month award and he should win more than that, he should win manager of half-term,” Mourinho said about the former Monaco, Roma and Juventus coach.
“If you could give an award for the first six months of the competition everybody is miles away from him and every club is miles away from what Leicester are doing. I know the distance between them and Man United, Man City, Arsenal is only a few points but they are the ones who deserve all the respect and compliments.
“One year ago they were bottom of the league and Ranieri was sacked by the Greece national team for losing to the Faroe Islands. Now he is the top manager in the Premier League and their players are top of the league. That’s the beauty, it’s fantastic.”
