Leicester City star Riyad Mahrez is still looking find a way out of King Power despite his manager Claude Puel confirming that the Algerian will not be sold in the January transfer window.
Mahrez has long been linked with a move away from Leicester and had even handed an official transfer request over the summer transfer window. But with Leicester slapping a whopping £50m price tag on his head, the Algerian had to stay put. The 26-year-old had a relatively slow start to this new Premier League season but as the campaign progressed, he has almost single-handedly taken Leicester out of the relegation battle.
Till date, the Algeria international has scored 7 goals and 7 assists this season and his impeccable form has already attracted the likes of Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal and Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool. The former is looking at the Algerian as a potential replacement for Alexis Sanchez who is on the verge of joining Manchester United. As things stand for Liverpool, their recent £142m sale of Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona has left a huge void, hence leading to Mahrez’s link with Liverpool.
According to Get French Football, the former La Havre winger is now keen on moving away from the King Power Stadium and even has an agreement with the club’s owners about being allowed to leave during the ongoing January transfer window. His manager, Claude Puel, on the other hand, has firmly rejected the scenario but has admitted that there’s uncertainty for the period of the summer transfer window.
“It is speculation and we cannot respond to all the speculation with information,” the Frenchman said. “Perhaps, in the summer he will cost even more than £100m.
“It is always the same thing about Riyad. It is just rumors, noise about him and other players.”
Mahrez was close to sealing a move to Roma last summer and the Italian capital club went as far as £32m for the Algerian, only to be left red-faced by Leicester’s demands of a jaw-dropping £50m. A source close to the player (h/t IBTimes) has indicated that Mahrez’s move is evident and is expected to take place in the closing stages of the transfer window.
“Riyad is a very important part of Leicester’s squad. They have promised him that he can leave if the club that wants to buy him meets their asking price.
“I think that if he does leave Leicester, it will happen close to when the transfer window shuts. The negotiations will surely take a lot of time.
“I can confirm that Riyad still wants to leave Leicester for a big club. However, we must wait for firm offers to come in for this to happen,” the source said.
Coutinho’s move midway through the season has literally complicated things at Liverpool it seems. They were keen on acquiring Naby Keita six months before the actual date, but Leipzig have denied any such happenings. It now remains to be seen whether Klopp will actually make a move for any player this winter or not.
