Leicester City will sell Riyad Mahrez in the January transfer window only if they receive “a serious offer” for the midfielder, according to France Football.
Mahrez was close to sealing a move away from King Power Stadium over the summer but Foxes’ reluctance to sell him saw the Algerian eventually stay put. The Algerian was a target for Serie A side AS Roma and the capital club saw their three bids get rejected in the process – with the last one being in the region of £32m. So they eventually decided to end their interest in the winger.
This followed by the Algerian releasing a statement in which he revealed the fact that he wants to leave the club. May 30, 2017, Mahrez’s statement read (as quoted by the Guardian):
“Out of the huge admiration and respect I hold for Leicester I wanted to be totally honest and transparent. I have informed the club that I feel now is the time for me to move on.”
But as things stand for Leicester’s new manager Claude Puel, he has already said that he wants to keep his players at the club and this totally includes Riyad Mahrez, who has returned to his best under the former Southampton boss; 7 goals and 7 assists after a poor start to the current campaign speaks volumes.
“I like this player and I’d like to keep our best players. We will ask him the question, for me I am happy to play with the team with Riyad, with Jamie [Vardy] and others,” Puel was quoted by ESPN.
However, at the other end, France Football understands that Leicester are now ready to let Mahrez leave only if a good bid is received. In addition to that, back in October, the Daily Mirror had claimed that the likes of Arsenal and Tottenham were interested in the Algerian, but nothing noteworthy has happened until now.
Arsenal, on their part, are having some serious issues given that both Alexis Sanchez’s and Mesut Ozil’s contracts run out at the end of the season. For Tottenham, acquiring Mahrez would be an added bonus given that Lamela is yet to get into his groove and Moussa Sissoko has failed to make a mark once again.
It now remains to be seen as to whether Leicester will really sanction Mahrez’s sale midway through the season or not; given that he has helped the Foxes in getting out of relegation and jump to 8th spot in the Premier League table.
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