Fabrizio Romano has shared some details regarding Manchester City’s stance on Riyad Mahrez following recent reports linking him with a move to Saudi Arabia this summer.
Mahrez has been an important member of the City side for much of his time at the Etihad. Indeed, since joining from Leicester City in 2018, he’s played 236 games, scoring 78 goals and providing 59 assists.
In the Premier League for City, he’s made more than the 30 appearances he did this season on just one occasion. He scored five goals and provided 10 assists in those games this term, helping the Citizens to the league title.
The forward was also a fixture of the side in the Champions League. He played nine of the 13 games, scoring three goals and assisting a further two, as City won the competition for the first time in their history.
Amid his good campaign, Mahrez has become a target for Saudi side Al Ahli. They are apparently ready to offer him in the region of £85million for a two-year contract.
Transfer insider Romano has reinforced that the winger is a target for Saudi sides.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Man City have a ‘clear message’ for any Saudi side keen on signing Riyad Mahrez: An ‘important’ fee will be requested.
“We have reports of Saudi clubs and this is reality, they want Riyad Mahrez, but from what I get from Manchester City they want money,” he said on the Here We Go Podcast.
“It’s not that they say to Mahrez, ‘okay we won the Champions League, you can go,’ this is not the idea, so you have to pay money.”
The report was shared on Twitter by City Xtra and it attracted plenty of attention from the club’s supporters.
@KenSadja: “Its hard to imagine to lose Mahrez, Bernardo, Gundo and Laporte in same transfer windows after winning the treble”
@ski529: “Man is 32 and we need to inject some youth into our squad. Love him, but we might as well capitalize on gettig the most for an older player while we have the opportunity.”
@mbaalt8: “Best opportunity for us. Get rid and move on. We need to freshen the squad”
@Harshva50986088: “50 mil at least”
@rs41837606: “not joking, over 50 mil for any Saudi club”
@MarkIHarrison: “When players or managers are being discussed, my question will always be ‘who can you get to replace them?’ If they aren’t of the same level, is it worth it?”
@PhillyHarriis: “A huge fee and potentially replacing him with someone like Xavi Simons or Olise is exciting”
