Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri has insisted that Algerian playmaker Riyad Mahrez is going nowhere after reports surfaced yesterday that the playmaker has agreed on a deal to join Arsenal.
The PFA Player of the Year has been strongly linked with a move to Arsenal, with Arsene Wenger ready to offer up to £37million.
Algerian newspaper Le Buteur claim Arsenal have now won the race to sign the 25-year-old and will complete a deal within the coming days. The report says Mahrez agreed personal terms with the north London club, including salary and bonuses, some time ago.
The Foxes are prepared to bump up Mahrez’s wages from £40,000-a-week to £100,000 that will bring him in line with the increase England striker Jamie Vardy got this summer after the title win.
That was England hit-man Vardy’s reward for turning down the Gunners and Ranieri is confident Mahrez would do the same.
In a recent interview with Sky Sports, Ranieri said:
“I speak often with him and say stay with us, it’s much better for your future, I think he is an intelligent man and he will stay,
We support him very well, this is important, when you change teams maybe you don’t find team-mates who help you at the same level.
He improves more if he stays with us for another year, maybe next year he can think about another solution. If he goes for a lot of money, everybody will be expecting something special. He can do something special, but with us.”
WATCH: Claudio Ranieri believes it is in the best interests of @Mahrez22 to stay with @LCFC: https://t.co/TduUP79SqJ https://t.co/1bgjirP6bc
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) July 30, 2016
Leicester manager also talked with beIn Sports telling them that Mahrez will 100% stay with the champions.
Claudio Ranieri tells @beINSPORTS he is "100 percent sure" @Mahrez22 will stay at #LCFC. End of.
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) July 29, 2016
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger wants to add one more attacking player to bolster his ranks before the new Premier League season, and Mahrez is a major target.
Wenger’s frustration is growing after French club Lyon rejected his £29million bid for striker Alexandre Lacazette.
Arsene Wenger after Arsenal defeated MLS All-Stars 2-1 said in an interview,
“I have not too many attacking options in terms of experienced players.”
It only means that Arsenal are still in a look-out for a striker and they haven’t conceded defeat in the matter. With Leicester man Mahrez linked again and again, it could mean that we won’t sign a striker in the transfer window and play Walcott in the middle with Mahrez and Sanchez feeding the striker.
That wouldn’t be too bad because something is better than nothing. With Mahrez, Ozil and Sanchez behind Giroud or Walcott while Ox and Campbell are on the bench, we could really go for the title this year.
But as always, we can only wait and see if Arsenal really delivers this time.
With the launch of new away kit, fans would really like a new face don the new Arsenal kit. Hope we succeed in this deal.
