Fabrizio Romano has shared some details regarding Manchester City’s stance on Riyad Mahrez following recent reports linking him with a move to Saudi Arabia this summer.
Earlier this month, it was reported that Saudi-based club, Al-Ahli, have set their sights on securing a deal for the winger this summer.
Now, Romano has revealed some behind-the-scenes details on the matter, particularly from City’s point of view.
Romano says City want big money for Mahrez
Speaking on a recent edition of The Here We Go Podcast, Romano said this about Mahrez and the reported interest from Saudi.
He said: “We have reports of Saudi clubs and this is reality, they want Riyad Mahrez, but from what I get from Manchester City they want money.
“It’s not that they say to Mahrez, ‘okay we won the Champions League, you can go,’ this is not the idea so you have to pay money.”
City signed the Algerian from Leicester City back in the 2018 summer transfer window in a deal worth a reported fee of £60m.
Since then, the attacker has made 236 appearances for Pep Guardiola’s side across all competitions, finding the net 78 times and providing 59 assists along the way.
Having scored 15 goals and delivered 13 assists in 47 appearances this season, this highlights how important Mahrez is for the team.
However, with him not appearing in the FA Cup or Champions League finals and only playing 11 minutes across their quarter-final and semi-final matches in the European competition, this suggests that he isn’t at the top of the pecking order for City’s biggest games.
As things stand, the 32-year-old still has just over two years left on his contract at the Manchester club, which could be why they would only want a significant transfer fee to let him leave this summer.
In our view, given how useful the winger has shown he can be when called upon, we feel that unless he wants to leave, City should do all they can to keep hold of the player, unless Al-Ahli, or any other club, comes in with an offer the treble winners can’t refuse.
