Riyad Mahrez

[blue61]

He is worth whatever a buying club is prepared to pay. I would value him at around 65m based on age, level he is at and contract length. Great post KP!

 

[better dead than red]

I'm a crap songwriter but here goes nothing,

To the tune of Duran Duran's Rio

Think you can stop him, lad, try and roll the dice,
Peroxide in his hair, Ooh very nice,
With a cross to the left and a flick to the right it's match ( as in naturally)
He moves way too fast
You know you're something and you look like you're the best

His name is Riyad and he scores whenever he can
It's not hard cuz he always beats his man
And when he shines he really shows you all he can
Oh Riyad, Riyad he is a City man

 

[Pam]

As a Leicester fan who’s seen just about every minute Mahrez has played for us I thought I’d sign up and give my views on the player you guys seem close to securing.


First of all, I’m pretty surprised that so many football fans (including those at LCFC) deem Mahrez to be lazy. I just don’t see that all, even when he’s clearly not been wanting to play for the club he’s always put the effort in. I think people see a player that is pretty weak in the tackle and generally poor at defending, but he has always at least fallen back into his defensive position when we don’t have the ball.


If (when) he eventually signs for Man City It’s obvious he won’t have quite so much to do defensively and will be able to concentrate on his attacking play for 90% of each game. He’s gonna do serious damage.


Even though he’s apparently been in a bit of a strop and underperformed (compared to the title winning season) for about 18 months his offensive stats since he became a regular starter are better than any other Premier League winger, most of which don’t play in a midfield 4 with all the defensive duties that Mahrez has been burdened by at City.


I’m seriously confused by how undervalued he is by fans everywhere. The £75m that Leicester are apparently asking for would be an absolute bargain. I can’t see how he’s not been snapped up yet. He could quite easily double his output of goals and assists by joining a team with better players around him who enjoy probably twice as much possession as Leicester are used to.


Literally every game the opposition doubles, or trebles up on Mahrez as they can afford to do so because there’s very few other areas from which we can create chances. That could never happen at MC as there’s just too much quality all over the pitch.


I think I’m right in saying that his direct competition for a starting spot when he joins will be Bernardo Silva and Raheem Sterling. 2 very good players, but I think the addition of Mahrez would take you to a whole new level (if that’s even possible). The thought of Sané on one wing and Riyad on the other is absolutely frightening.


I’m obviously a huge Mahrez fan but it has got to the point where I, and most other Leicester supporters think it’s time that this was put to bed. I do however, fully back our owners for holding out for what they feel is an acceptable offer. Like others have said, financially we don’t need to sell and I honestly think that the owners would rather he stayed with the hump than left for £60m.


Realistically a half arsed Mahrez is still going to come up with 20 odd goals and maybe as many assists over the next 2 years. The owners would probably rather have that and lose him for free than let him leave now for less than he’s worth. He’s simply irreplaceable for us.


I’m actually really looking forward to seeing what he can achieve for Man City. Obviously I’d prefer him to stay at Leicester but we all know that’s not going to happen. It’s no exaggeration that a happy Mahrez with that amount of quality around him could be the best player in the league. I still can’t believe we’ve held onto him and Vardy for so long, they’re both top quality. There’s been stats going around recently showing Vardy’s goals to chances ratio and Mahrez shooting (don’t know how they work that out) are the best in the Prem. Where would we be without them!?


It’s a massive shame Mahrez stay at Leicester has soured a little as he’s certainly the best player I’ve seen play for us in my 25 years following the club. Many with more games under their belt than me say he’s our best ever. His first touch is absolutely sublime, his dribbling is ridiculous and at times he just makes defenders look silly, his turn of pace and change of direction are unbelievable.


You’re getting one hell of a player, I just hope you end up paying a fair price for him. If he wasn’t kicking up a fuss or if he was playing for a more fashionable club or even if he was English, he’d be going for north of £100m.


Good luck for the season but let’s hope someone can at least make it interesting this time round!

Thanks for that.

 

[BringBackSwales]

Leicester Jimmy that’s a belter of a post mate, very balanced and rational. The only point I wouldn’t agree with is that if he joins us his defensive duties will increase nor decrease

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

Actually, KPJimmy, I'll get flak from some on here for this, but I'm with you on that valuation. When you look at other stuff that been going on in transfers both in Europe and in England, £70-75 million wouldn't shock me in the slightest. Naturally, I'll be very, very pleased if we can get him for less. It would be a fine piece of business.
If he's still with you when training starts I think his value will inevitably go down. Pep wants this player training with him and absorbing his ideas, right through the summer.

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

Song for Riyad. Rock the Casbah.

Start with “Mourinho don't like it”, take it from there.

It's far too hot where I am at present for coats…

 

[shakeyboy]

As a Leicester fan who’s seen just about every minute Mahrez has played for us I thought I’d sign up and give my views on the player you guys seem close to securing.


First of all, I’m pretty surprised that so many football fans (including those at LCFC) deem Mahrez to be lazy. I just don’t see that all, even when he’s clearly not been wanting to play for the club he’s always put the effort in. I think people see a player that is pretty weak in the tackle and generally poor at defending, but he has always at least fallen back into his defensive position when we don’t have the ball.


If (when) he eventually signs for Man City It’s obvious he won’t have quite so much to do defensively and will be able to concentrate on his attacking play for 90% of each game. He’s gonna do serious damage.


Even though he’s apparently been in a bit of a strop and underperformed (compared to the title winning season) for about 18 months his offensive stats since he became a regular starter are better than any other Premier League winger, most of which don’t play in a midfield 4 with all the defensive duties that Mahrez has been burdened by at City.


I’m seriously confused by how undervalued he is by fans everywhere. The £75m that Leicester are apparently asking for would be an absolute bargain. I can’t see how he’s not been snapped up yet. He could quite easily double his output of goals and assists by joining a team with better players around him who enjoy probably twice as much possession as Leicester are used to.


Literally every game the opposition doubles, or trebles up on Mahrez as they can afford to do so because there’s very few other areas from which we can create chances. That could never happen at MC as there’s just too much quality all over the pitch.


I think I’m right in saying that his direct competition for a starting spot when he joins will be Bernardo Silva and Raheem Sterling. 2 very good players, but I think the addition of Mahrez would take you to a whole new level (if that’s even possible). The thought of Sané on one wing and Riyad on the other is absolutely frightening.


I’m obviously a huge Mahrez fan but it has got to the point where I, and most other Leicester supporters think it’s time that this was put to bed. I do however, fully back our owners for holding out for what they feel is an acceptable offer. Like others have said, financially we don’t need to sell and I honestly think that the owners would rather he stayed with the hump than left for £60m.


Realistically a half arsed Mahrez is still going to come up with 20 odd goals and maybe as many assists over the next 2 years. The owners would probably rather have that and lose him for free than let him leave now for less than he’s worth. He’s simply irreplaceable for us.


I’m actually really looking forward to seeing what he can achieve for Man City. Obviously I’d prefer him to stay at Leicester but we all know that’s not going to happen. It’s no exaggeration that a happy Mahrez with that amount of quality around him could be the best player in the league. I still can’t believe we’ve held onto him and Vardy for so long, they’re both top quality. There’s been stats going around recently showing Vardy’s goals to chances ratio and Mahrez shooting (don’t know how they work that out) are the best in the Prem. Where would we be without them!?


It’s a massive shame Mahrez stay at Leicester has soured a little as he’s certainly the best player I’ve seen play for us in my 25 years following the club. Many with more games under their belt than me say he’s our best ever. His first touch is absolutely sublime, his dribbling is ridiculous and at times he just makes defenders look silly, his turn of pace and change of direction are unbelievable.


You’re getting one hell of a player, I just hope you end up paying a fair price for him. If he wasn’t kicking up a fuss or if he was playing for a more fashionable club or even if he was English, he’d be going for north of £100m.


Good luck for the season but let’s hope someone can at least make it interesting this time round!

Thanks for the top post mate. Agree with you for the most part and always great to hear discerning voices from opposing teams.

Only thing I’d add is that the defence Mahrez will be up against every week will be a nine or ten man block rather than what he’s been used to over his time with you. And I think that’s why Pep wants him. He’d definitely add that elusive spark that we’ve missed at times when we are controlling the ball and they have ten men in the box. He’s a special player and I hope the deal goes through. Good luck for the coming season

 

[KPJimmy]

Hi Jimmy, i enjoyed reading your post but you do know Mahrez has averaged 11 goals and just a fraction over 6 Assists a season since he has been with you guys? A valuation of 50-60m is about right I think ?

Also if he did join. He would have to work his socks off when needed defensively. All our players work hard under Pep.

You read my post, but you didn’t really read my post!

Your first point, his stats are probably skewed by his first season where he played the equivalent of 10 games less worth of minutes than he has in the 3 since. That was in a team that spent 3/4 of the season rock bottom.

Even if you take out another season which might skew the averages, the title winning season where he was outstanding he’s still got impressive figures.

Mardy arsed uninterested Mahrez has scored 23 goals and got 20 assists in the last 2 seasons, it’s hardly unrealistic to expect him to get ‘20 odd goals and almost as many assists’ in the next 2 seasons is it!?

Your second point, I clearly said he works hard and does his defensive work, it’s just not at the level of his attacking play which i’m quite sure is the case for most wingers or attackers, otherwise they’d probably be defenders!

If Pep only wants to spend £50-60m then he should probably enquire about Demerai Gray instead.

 

[shak]

Song for Riyad. Rock the Casbah.

Start with “Mourinho don't like it”, take it from there.

It's far too hot where I am at present for coats…

I tried to make him work with rock the Casbah a couple of weeks ago, just think its fits for some reason.

'Mourinho don't like it' is a much better line than I came up with though.

 

[KPJimmy]

Thanks for the top post mate. Agree with you for the most part and always great to hear discerning voices from opposing teams.

Only thing I’d add is that the defence Mahrez will be up against every week will be a nine or ten man block rather than what he’s been used to over his time with you. And I think that’s why Pep wants him. He’d definitely add that elusive spark that we’ve missed at times when we are controlling the ball and they have ten men in the box. He’s a special player and I hope the deal goes through. Good luck for the coming season

You make a good point. There haven’t been too many occasions where Leicester have been up against that sort of set up in the Premier League. There’s no doubt that he seems to be at his best (and most exciting) when counter attacking at pace, much like Vardy.

He’s more than capable of going past 3 or 4 players in a tight space or playing those intricate passes that seem to be a MC trademark at the moment. I’m interested to see how he gets on, I suspect he’ll smash it.