The Gunners had a £30m bid for Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette rejected by the French club in July and Arsenal are yet to return with a secondary offer for the France global.
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A Riyad Mahrez penalty just after half-time drew them level but they never fully settled.
In any case, this had hardly concerned us since the 25-year-old was linked most strongly with Arsenal, but the chance meeting with an aspiring sports journalist (armed with his Twitter account) put Chelsea firmly in the center of the Mahrez rumor mill.
Mahrez was voted PFA Player of the Year last season as he helped Claudio Ranieri’s side to clinch the most unlikely of title successes. Ramdani added that Mahrez and his contingent had left the job of agreeing a fee to Leicester and are likely to stay out of it.
Willian was the club’s best player last season in the same position, but Mahrez’s arrival would give Conte the option to play three behind a striker or rotate his wide players to keep the team fresh.
The Gunners want this deal closed as soon as possible, but there is little chance of that happening before the opening game of the weekend, with the Foxes standing strong in their resolve not to sell the player.
“[N’Golo] Kante had a clause and wanted to go, but the others stay with us”.
“I’m very happy, we have a very good dressing room”.
The player’s agent is also reportedly in talks with Leicester to extend his contract and get a more favourable deal for the Premier League victor.
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Recall that Mahrez’s Foxes team-mate Jamie Vardy has the release clause in his contract activated by the Gunner before the start of Euro 2016.
