Towards the end of the transfer window, there was a brief moment when Arsenal fans thought they might be on the verge of signing Riyad Mahrez from Leicester.
Reports from France, mostly coming from one journalist, suggested a deal was close, but the Algerian winger eventually signed a new contract with the Premier League champions, and stayed.
Signing a new contract doesn’t necessarily mean the player will stay at the King Power stadium forever, however, and Omar da Fonseca, La Liga expert for beIN Sports in France and former PSG striker, fully expects him to leave next summer for a bigger club.
Speaking to Le Buteur, he said: “It’s rather rare to see these days, but I think Mahrez is someone who’s grateful, who decided to stay another season at Leicester before obviously going to a bigger club, next summer.
“He has the advantage of knowing the club and his teammates well, and I think he chose the sporting challenge when he had the opportunity to earn a lot more money elsewhere.”
There was never any official proof that Arsenal had bid for the player, and a move to Chelsea was also talked about over a couple of weeks, mostly because he coincidentally spent the night in the same hotel as Antonio Conte’s side, but at 25, the forward still has a long career ahead of him, and if he manages to repeat last year’s form this time around (he hasn’t yet), Leicester will find it very hard to keep him indeed.
Claudio Ranieri’s men currently sit 12th in the Premier League after their 4-1 loss to Manchester United at the weekend.
