Journalist Graeme Bailey has claimed that Pep Guardiola is very keen to keep hold of Riyad Mahrez at Manchester City this summer.
The winger has been heavily linked with a move to Saudi Arabian club, Al-Ahli, who are reportedly said to be preparing a £30m bid for the player.
Now, one journalist has shared some behind-the-scenes details regarding the current situation surrounding the 32-year-old.
Journalist says Guardiola wants Mahrez to stay
Speaking on a recent edition of the Talking Transfers podcast, Bailey had this to say about Mahrez and the current state of affairs with him and his future.
He said: “With Mahrez, City really don’t want to lose him, Pep doesn’t want to lose him. Mahrez has more than a year left, it’s an interesting situation.
“I don’t think that they’re going to let him out, from what we’re hearing he’s agreed terms with Saudi to go there, he does want to leave. But with [Bernardo] Silva going, I think it’s very difficult for City to let Mahrez out, my understanding is, as it stands, that City won’t let him out.
“I think Mahrez will find it very hard to get out, I really do. The problem the Saudis have with City is that they don’t need the money, they’re not looking for the money. Mahrez’s wages aren’t a problem so that’s not an issue for them.”
During his time at the Manchester club since arriving from Leicester City back in 2018 for a fee of £60m, the Algerian has made 236 appearances across all competitions, finding the net 78 times and supplying 59 assists.
Even though the attacker didn’t feature in the FA Cup or Champions League finals last season, he still showed throughout the campaign how important he can be for the team, particularly in terms of delivering goal contributions.
Specifically, Mahrez scored 15 goals and provided 13 assists across the entire season, with some of those goal contributions coming in important games such as City’s 4-2 league win over Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad Stadium where he scored twice and made one assist.
This makes it easy to see why Guardiola is eager to keep hold of the former Leicester star, which is something that we feel the club should all they can to make happen.
