Algerian attacker Riyad Mahrez has admitted that he is honoured to receive praise from a manager of Arsene Wenger’s calibre, but nothing has been resolved as yet in terms of the transfer.
The 26-year-old has recently highlighted his ambition to pursue a fresh challenge away from Leicester City after the Foxes ended a lowly 12th in the Premier League standings.
Mahrez was not quite able to produce his heroics of 12 months ago which guided the Foxes to a maiden title, but he nevertheless managed to bag 10 goals and seven assists across all competitions.
Shortly after winning the Algerian Golden Ball, Mahrez was quizzed about the Gunners’ speculation, for which, he said, via The Express: “It’s an honour to receive compliments like this from such a big manager in world football. But there’s a big difference between an offer and speculation, so there is nothing on the table at the moment.”
The Gunners failed to clinch a Champions League qualification spot for the first time in 20 seasons, but this did not influence the club’s hierarchy to overturn their decision to offer Wenger with a new two-year deal.
The long-standing manager firmly believes that the club have a reasonable chance of challenging for the Premier League title, and a lot could be dependent on how he moves about in the upcoming transfer window.
Arsenal confirmed the signing of Schalke’s Sead Kolasinac on a free earlier this month, and Wenger is now focused on bringing a quality attacker to his ranks with Real Madrid’s James Rodriguez the latest on the club’s radar.
Leicester City are likely to play hardball in negotiations for Mahrez, who has three more years on his contract, and the Gunners may have to cough up a club-record sum in order to prise away the 2015/16 PFA Player of the Year.
