Manchester City are reportedly taking steps in their attempts to prise 2016 PFA Players’ Player of the Year Riyad Mahrez away from Premier League champions Leicester City as new manager Pep Guardiola looks to add to his squad ahead of the new season.
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Leicester are stepping up contract talks with other key personnel, including manager Claudio Ranieri, England global Danny Drinkwater and goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.
There is considerably less pressure on the head of Antonio Conte, having already recruited Michy Batshuayi and N’Golo Kante this summer, and his decision to keep Juan Cuadrado at the club could render the club’s interest in Mahrez redundant.
And that will alert a number of Europe’s biggest clubs tracking the 25-year-old, who signed for 350,000 pound ($4,61,790) from French side Le Havre in 2014.
Last season Chelsea seemed to lack heart and hard work and Kante will fix this problem.
Arsene Wenger is now hoping for more luck with Mahrez, who was voted the Premier League’s best player last season, and there is a chance he will get him.
“Even Mahrez, I talked to him and said, “Are you concerned?’ He said ‘No, no, I want to stay”.
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Leicester will ask more than 30 million pound ($39.5 million) to let one of their most shining star leave the club and Chelsea seem to be eager to meet both the club and the player’s request.
