It has been reported that Al-Ahli are ready to submit a bid worth £30 million to sign Riyad Mahrez from Manchester City.
This comes from The Athletic, as the 32-year-old’s plans for the future remain unconfirmed.
However, how Manchester City feel about the prospect of selling Riyad Mahrez to Al-Ahli has come to the fore.
How Manchester City feel about potential £30 million bid from Al-Ahli to sign Riyad Mahrez
A month ago, it was claimed that the Saudi Arabian club’s president came all the way down to London to negotiate a deal for the silky technician, branded as ‘masterful’ by Eurosport.
The Algerian winger did not start a single game in the Champions League after the second leg of the Round of 16, which is a clear indicator of the fact that he had far from his best season.
Now, it has been revealed that while Al-Ahli are willing to put in a £30 million bid to sign Riyad Mahrez, Manchester City are not keen on letting him leave this summer.
Considering the club believe Bernardo Silva is well capable of replacing Ilkay Gundogan after they missed out on Declan Rice’s signature, the depth on the right flank would be virtually non-existent if the ex-Leicester City wideman departed the club.
If the ageing forward left, that would force the Sky Blues back into the market and as a result, they would rather keep him at the Etihad Stadium.
Manchester City should look towards signing an alternative
While the rationale from Manchester City does make sense, Al-Ahli are one of the only suitors that would be willing to pay as much as £30 million to sign a declining Riyad Mahrez on the wrong side of 30.
Instead, the treble-winners should instead look towards bringing in an alternative and let Mahrez leave, considering he has been miles off his brilliant best since the previous two campaigns.
If they decide not to, the AFCON winner will be their only natural option at right-wing, which is far from ideal when he is clearly way past his prime now.
