Riyad Mahrez won’t leave Leicester City in January, hints Claude Puel
Riyad Mahrez won’t be leaving Leicester City anytime soon despite the winger’s ambitions to play for a bigger club, the club’s manager Claude Puel has hinted.
Mahrez has been on fire since Puel’s arrival, scoring six goals and contributing to four more, and in the process, being at the forefront of Leicester City’s revival. The Algerian’s form has only led to yet more speculation about his future, with Liverpool and Arsenal being the most linked clubs.
The Reds are already said to have held talks with the player’s representatives following the £142 million sale of Phillipe Coutinho, but it was recently reported that Riyad Mahrez prefers Arsenal over Liverpool.
The Gunners, however, have apparently made Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Malcom their number one targets, with either Anthony Martial or Henrikh Mkhitaryan already a part of the deal involving Alexis Sanchez’s proposed move to Manchester United. Safe to say, the 26 year old’s wish may not be granted.
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As the Leicester City star continues to be surrounded by speculation nonetheless, Claude Puel has come out for the umpteenth time, hinting that his Galactico isn’t leaving in the January transfer window and is pretty happy – at least for the moment.
The Frenchman has maintained his strong stance ever since his arrival and it didn’t look like any of that has changed. Speaking about the Algeria international, he said:
"“It’s not a question in our mind. All the noise is just speculation.“Of course we are in the transfer window and it’s normal for all the best players [to be linked with transfers], but I’m not afraid about this because there’s a fantastic spirit and good attitude in this squad.“I have confidence in Riyad. We spoke a lot with him, [about] different things, and often about football, because he likes football a lot. He is now with good maturity, good experience of life, and we can see this in this game."
"“He has a fantastic influence on the team, a valuable player for the team. We can see he is enjoying his football and is happy with his team-mates and with us. It’s important for us to keep our best players.“The good ambition for him is to continue this hard work, to show his consistency game after game, until the end of the season.“He has come back at a good level: he is clinical, with assists, with goals, and it’s important he continues this work and shows people the player he is, without the ball [and] with it. He is making progress. It’s a good thing of course [that] he continues all season with us.”"
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Away from the madness of the transfer window, Leicester City will be in action, quite possibly with Riyad Mahrez in the XI, against Fleetwood Town in the FA Cup third round replay at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday.