According to L’Equipe, Arsenal have increased their bid for Leicester star Riyad Mahrez to £35million.
The Gunners were reportedly set to end their interest in the Leicester playmaker, who looked set to remain at the King Power Stadium for another season.
Foxes manager Claudio Ranieri insists Mahrez is going nowhere this summer after the playmaker helped Leicester win an unlikely Premier League title last season.
With £35million, Arsenal will also supposedly throw in £7.8m in add-ons and bonuses to ensure the deal goes through.
Mahrez is keen on a transfer to the Emirates Stadium amid claims the player has already agreed terms on a £100,000 a week deal at the Emirates. It is also claimed that Mahrez has rejected a contract proposal from Leicester to keep him at the club for the foreseeable future.
Mahrez won PFA Player of the Year last season after scoring 17 goals and providing 11 assists in Leicester’s run to the title.
There were reports that Mahrez won’t be leaving Leicester in this transfer window but with the defeat in the first league match, this could change. Negotiations have been halted and reports emerging from France can only mean one thing. It would be now or never for Arsenal to pull their weight and get their man.
As for Leicester, they kicked off their title defence at Hull today but lost their first match of their new season to the tigers 2-1 and the speculations have started.
With Leicester losing their first match of the season and Mahrez scoring their only goal, this could lead to Mahrez asking for a transfer to Arsenal.
This would be a tough one for Leicester and Mahrez to take. Let’s hope this works out for us and we get ourselves a World class player.
