Manchester City made a late bid for Leicester City star Riyad Mahrez on the deadline day of the January transfer window. The Algerian star was desperate to complete the move but Leicester played hardball demanding roughly 150% of the £60 million offer made for them.
Leicester’s incredulous rebuttal offer was expected as it was the last day of the transfer window and replacing an important player like Mahrez on the last day was not only going to be expensive but highly unlikely. However, the player did not take the decision well and was missing from training and the matchday squads for the next two weeks.
Mahrez’s anger was also justified since the player had already requested a transfer in the summer window of 2017 but a move was never granted. Ever since Leicester’s win in the 2015-16 season, Mahrez has been a sought-after star. The former Premier League champions, however, always played hardball in the market when it came to Mahrez and this appeared to be the last straw.
Mahrez, however, cooled down after the January fiasco and reaffirmed his faith to Leicester albeit leaving one foot on the door. He told Sky Sports: “In football, players come and players leave. I am not saying I am going to leave or going to go. We will see in the summer if something comes, but at the moment I am a Leicester City player and I am good here.”
It would now appear that latest reports are confirming Manchester City and Pep Guardiola are once again interested in signing the Algerian winger. City have just won the league in the most bizarre fashion when Manchester United lost to West Bromwich Albion leaving City clear at the top. However, irrespective of the nature of the title win, their journey has been nothing short of perfect. They have just lost a grand total of two matches all season and City have been simply ruthless.
They are well on course to break the records for the most wins, most points and most goals scored; all in one season thanks to a Guardiola master class. However, City’s squad depth has been questioned by the Spanish tactician when back in January a couple of crucial injuries to Gabriel Jesus and Leroy Sane crippled City in the jam-packed fixture month.
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This would then make sense for City to approach Leicester for Mahrez as they would obviously be targeting him as a backup option to increase their squad depth. Should Mahrez perform well, it might even see him make a claim for the starting spot!
