Manchester City are ready to scrap their pursuit of Leicester City winger Riyad Mahrez as their manager Pep Guardiola was left unimpressed by the player’s recent antics at the club. According to recent reports in the English media, Guardiola was not impressed by Mahrez’s recent walkout and could pull out of the race for his signature. The Foxes midfielder has still not shown up for training after City’s £60m bid was rejected by the West Midlands outfit on the January transfer deadline day last week.
Riyad Mahrez’s misery has piled on even more after the Citizens chief Pep Guardiola turned his back on him for good. Manchester City’s offer of £60m for Mahrez was rejected by the Foxes which led to them walking away on the transfer deadline day with Leicester City indicating that they valued their star winger at a staggering £95m. Since seeing his dream move to the Etihad Stadium collapse on the last day of the winter transfer window, the Algerian international has gone on strike and has refused to show up for training which led to him missing the West Midlands club’s last two matches.
It is believed that the 26-year-old is set to continue with his stance of a self-imposed exile by refusing to commit his services in Saturday’s Premier League clash which is ironically against the Premier League leaders Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
The Citizens boss Guardiola was looking to make a fresh move for the player next summer as he is still eager to add another attacking option to bolster his squad for next season. However, some sources are now claiming that the Spanish manager has major concerns over Mahrez’s behaviour to deal with the fall-out from his failed transfer and will now look elsewhere in search of better options.
Mahrez signed for Leicester City for just £400,000 from AC Le Havre in the winter of 2014. The Foxes have struggled without the services of the Algerian international and have not tasted victory in any of their last two matches which included a defeat at Everton away and a draw at home to Swansea. His prolonged absence has now become a major headache for the Leicester manager Claude Puel and the club.
Puel was initially on board with the idea of giving Mahrez some time off to try and help him get over the disappointment of missing out on his dream move to the Champions-elect. Now, the Foxes find themselves in an awkward situation with the 26-year-old claiming that he is absent due to depression and has not given any indication of when he will return to first-team action. He has previously made his desire to leave the club by submitting two transfer requests in the past two transfer windows. Although it looks like the Citizens are ready to close their doors to Mahrez, yet it remains to be seen what lies ahead in the future of the Algerian international.
