But worryingly for the Premier League champions, Mahrez followed Arsenal striker Yaya Sanogo on Thursday as shown in the photo below in what some presumed to be a hint that a deal could be on the cards. No more so than when Mourinho and Guardiola renew their rivalry as the new managers of Manchester United and Manchester City, respectively.
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City were 5000-1 to land the title last season, the same odds as finding Elvis Presley alive, but shocked the world by defying the odds.
Leicester were 5,000/1 to become champions of England when Ranieri took charge, yet they lost just three league games all season and won the title by 10 points.
The Italian, who put pen to paper on a new contract keeping him at the King Power Stadium until 2020, insisted that the Foxes winning back-to-back league titles was near-impossible, ensuring that expectations of his squad remain judicious. There are unlikely to be many easy victories gained this season. It’s very interesting that Leicester themselves are failing to drum up any confidence and are the second most backed in the relegation market. They performed extremely well last season and it’s not that long ago that we were celebrating at Wembley after a magnificent performance. The two have combined to win 15 of the 24 Premier League titles overall, although Manchester United is the winningest team of all time with a record 13 championships.
And Carragher believes the clash of personalities at the highest level will make for intriguing viewing over the course of the next nine months. Like in his previous coaching jobs, Guardiola probably has the strongest team but the depth of competition is far greater than he’s ever experienced.
However, this summer has seen N’Golo Kante move to Chelsea and the future of Riyad Mahrez at the club also seems uncertain after it emerged today in the Independent that Arsenal have had a £30 million bid for the player rejected.
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Few would feel confident predicting Leicester’s final position. They became only the sixth different club to ever win the league and the second in as many years not named Manchester City or Manchester United, with four-time victor Chelsea taking home the crown in 2015.
