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What’s the rumour?
Manchester City are close to signing Riyad Mahrez according to reports in Daily Mail. The Leicester City star is set to cost around £75 million as per the same report.
Daily Mail claim that the Foxes asked for Patrick Roberts to be included in the deal but that has been rejected by ManCity. They are ready to sell him but do not want him to be a part of the Mahrez deal.
In case you didn’t know...
The same report claims that Mahrez was close to joining Manchester City in January too. The Algerian winger was keen on joining Pep Guardiola's side but Leicester were desperate to keep him and rejected all bid to sign him.
Mahrez has been looking to leave the club for over 2 years now. He wanted to leave the club after they won the Premier League but was urged to stay for another season.
Last summer, he tried to leave the club once again but Leicester rejected bids from AS Roma and other unnamed clubs. He had even agreed personal terms with the Serie A side according to a few reports.
The heart of the matter
Leicester Mercury are also reporting that Mahrez is on the verge of joining the Cityzens this summer. They claim that the deal was expected to be completed last week but reportedly hit snags over agent fees.
Rumour probability: 5/10
Guardiola is keen on signing a winger and it's possible that Mahrez will be his main target. He tried to sign him in January and will be keen on signing him again.
However, the fee seems to be too high and with Manchester City having set sights on other targets too, they might consider looking at alternatives before signing Mahrez.
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Author’s Take
Mahrez will be a benchwarmer at Manchester City. There is no way he's going to be a regular in the starting XI as Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane have been in stunning form.
