Arsenal and Tottenham are reportedly set to go head-to-head in a summer battle for Riyad Mahrez.
According to a report in the Telegraph, Riyad Mahrez is set for a summer move away from Leicester City, as he expects the Premier League champions to allow him to leave at the end of the season. Arsenal and Tottenham, among others, are interested in signing the Algerian in the summer.
Leicester City have endured a massive fall from grace this season, going from champions of England last season to flirting with relegation for large parts of 2016/17. However, the Foxes have seen a resurgence in form in the last two months and are likely to finish in the top half of the Premier League table.
One player who has mirrored Leicester’s fortunes in the last two seasons is Riyad Mahrez. The Algerian winger was in inspiring form all through 2015/16 as Leicester shocked everyone by winning the Premier League title, bagging 17 goals and 11 assists before being named as the Premier League and PFA’s Player of the Season.
Matt Law: Riyad Mahrez expects to leave Leicester this summer. He has an agreement with the club from last summer that says he can go now. pic.twitter.com/KNmtvDdVPN
— Messi Minutes (@MessiMinutes) May 9, 2017
However, Mahrez’s form for large parts of the current campaign has been underwhelming to say the least. Much like Leicester’s upswing, though, Mahrez, too, has been close to his best in recent weeks, and now has a return of 10 goals and 5 assists to show for his efforts.
However, despite being one of the most instrumental figures for Leicester in the last three seasons, it’s looking likely that Mahrez’s time at the King Power Stadium is coming to an end. The Algerian winger has cut an embattled figure, at times, in recent weeks and the report suggests that he wants to move on at the end of the season.
It details that last summer, Mahrez had struck an agreement with former manager Claudio Ranieri that he would be allowed to leave Leicester at the end of the current campaign before he snubbed interest from other clubs by signing a new four-year deal.
Mahrez now expects the beleaguered Premier League champions to honour that agreement, even though Ranieri is no longer at the club. And there’s no dearth of interest in the 26-year-old, with the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool and Juventus previously expressing their interest in signing him.
Now, though, Arsenal and Tottenham seem to have taken the lead in the race to sign Mahrez, and are set to go head-to-head in his pursuit as they are both keen to sign a winger this summer.
Arsenal, in particular, could be in dire need to sign at least one attacking player when the transfer window opens in June. The likes of Alexis Sancez, Mesut Ozil, Lucas Perez and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are all rumoured to be on their way out of the Emirates.
If any – or all – of these players end up leaving Arsenal in the summer, Arsene Wenger will have to delve into the transfer market in search of a wide man, with Mahrez presenting himself as a viable target. However, he will not be alone in his chase for Mahrez as Tottenham are interested in him as well.
Mauricio Pochettino currently has just Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Son Heung-Min as the attacking players who have performed consistently under him. Erik Lamela and Moussa Sissoko, meanwhile, have been poor and unimpressive, making the need to sign a pacy and tricky winger increasingly apparent.
Mahrez showed last season that he can be one of the most menacing wingers to deal with in the Premier League. And at 26, he is approaching the peak of his powers, which will make him the perfect solution for the right side of attack for both the Premier League aspirants.
The report states that an offer of £30 million could be good enough to secure his services in the summer, and it will be interesting to see which way Mahrez heads off to, as he looks set to leave Leicester in the summer.
