FC Barcelona have dismissed reports about their supposed interest in Leicester City star Riyad Mahrez, claiming that they were never interested in signing the Algerian in the first place.
Since rejecting a contract offer from Leicester City, there have been rumours linking Riyad Mahrez with a move to FC Barcelona as they were reportedly interested in signing the Foxes’ star. However the Catalans have since quashed such claims revealing that they weren’t interested in the first place despite the 25-year old expressing his desire to play for the Spanish giants.
Ed Malyon of the Daily Mirror reported that Barcelona haven’t established any contact regarding the signing of the Algerian and claimed that any contact between him and the club’s representatives was not instigated by them. Having already signed two defensive reinforcements in Lucas Digne and Samuel Umtiti along with a midfielder in Denis Suarez, Barcelona are looking to complete their summer shopping list with the signing of a right-back – a replacement for the departed Dani Alves – and a forward who would be a viable back-up option to an already devastating front-line in Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar.
After losing N’Golo Kante to Chelsea, Premier League champions Leicester City looked primed to lose Mahrez as well after the PFA Player of the Year rejected a new bumper contract that would have seen his salary get hiked to £80,ooo per week. Mahrez reportedly earns £35,000 per week at Leicester and his representatives believe that he is worthy of a £120,000-a-week, which the Foxes will be hard-pressed to offer.
Destination London for Mahrez?
Arsenal and Chelsea have both shown interest in signing the midfielder which indicates that Mahrez could well follow Kante’s path to London in search of a bigger challenge. Since the confirmation of his contract rejection, strong rumours of a move to the London clubs have emerged with Chelsea once again front-runners to raid a Leicester City midfielder.
Meeting the Algerian’s wage demands should not be a problem for a club like Chelsea financed by one of the richest men in the world. The Londoners have reportedly signed Kante for £150,000 per week which represents a steep hike on the wages he earned while at the King Power Stadium. With Antonio Conte expressing his desire to sign Mahrez, the owner will leave no stone unturned in ensuring the Italian gets all the resources he wants going into the new season.
