Deal That Would Have Changed Everything-
It had been made public that Leicester City’s star winger Riyad Mahrez has wanted a move away from the King Power stadium for quite a while. The Algerian winger was close to joining Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United just before the transfer window closed. Mahrez was the PFA Player of the Year in 2016 when he played a big part in Leicester City’s dream run in the Premier League. Having won the Premier League title with Leicester in the 2015-16 campaign, Mahrez was eyed by a lot of top European clubs, but the Foxes were unwilling to let go of their superstar.
Chelsea was the mainly linked to Mahrez as they wanted a replacement for Eden Hazard is he was set to leave the club and so were local London rivals Arsenal, who were in dire need of a replacement for Chilean star Alexi Sanchez, who was unwilling to sign a contract extension with the Gunners. But now, as the transfer window has come to a close, Mahrez is still at Leicester and Hazard is still at Chelsea and Sanchez is still at Arsenal.
Surprisingly, Jose Mourinho was reportedly interested in bringing Mahrez to Old Trafford. Having already splashed out heavily on transfer fees for Romelu Lukaku, Victor Lindelof and Nemanja Matic, United were desperate to bring in a winger after strengthening the attack, defense and midfield.
There was a long pursuit with Inter Milan’s Ivan Perisic. But the deal turned sour as the Serie A club, did not accept any bids from the English side. But Manchester United were still interested in a quality winger who can dictate play and bring in goals for the side.
Cut to, Riyad Mahrez. The 26-year-old wide-man made his debut for Leicester in 2014 and has gone on to become one of their greatest players in the clubs history. Mahrez scored 35 times in 141 appearances for the Foxes and has been a key member of the team since his arrival.
However, there was speculation over Mahrez’ future and during the international break, he was allowed to leave training with the national squad to resolve his transfer issues.
This came across as a big alert for many clubs who were interested in recruiting the former Premier League champion. However, it was reported that Manchester United did not put forward a bid for the star winger.
Mahrez was spotted in Paris last week which led to rumors of joining French capital club Paris Saint Germain.
Spanish giants Barcelona and Italian outfit AS Roma both made offers for Mahrez, but Leicester boss Craig Shakespeare decided that his valued asset was going nowhere in the summer transfer window.
Do The Red Devils Still Need Him?
On an honest note, Mourinho has a lot of top players who can play on the wings and does not really need more attacking options. His team has scored 10 goals in 3 matches so far, which shows how good they are when going forward. If for some reason, the need does arise in the future for more attack minded players, he can go ahead and sign some in the winter transfer window. Keep tabs on all the action, by liking our page.
