Manchester City
Premier League • England
Guardiola rocked, as Man City forward says yes to mouth-watering Liverpool link-up
A regular starter in Pep Guardiola’s forward line has verbally agreed to leave Man City, and if a touted £30m bid is accepted, a mouth-watering partnership with a Liverpool icon would await.
Guardiola’s front line has undergone significant change in recent seasons, with the likes of Leroy Sane, Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus all departing.
Jack Grealish, Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland have filled the void, and City’s treble-winning campaign last year suggests Guardiola picked the right time to refresh his ranks.
However, among the constants at the Etihad throughout the bulk of Guardiola’s tenure is Algerian winger, Riyad Mahrez.
Indeed, the 32-year-old has bagged 78 goals and 59 assists during 239 appearances since joining from Leicester back in 2018.
The right winger broke double figures in both goals and assists last term, thus indicating there’s plenty left in the tank despite his advancing age.
While it’s Bernardo Silva who generally gets the nod on the right wing in the biggest games, it’s Mahrez who racks up far more starts in the position.
However, despite having two years remaining on his contract, the Athletic recently brought news of Mahrez potentially being on the move.
Indeed, Saudi Arabian side Al Ahli are determined to sign the lethal wideman and have reportedly tabled a contract offer worth £25m per season (approx. £480,000-a-week).
If Mahrez were to join Al Alhi, he’d be in line to forge a tantalising attacking partnership with Liverpool legend, Roberto Firmino.
Firmino joined Al Ahli as a free agent earlier this summer and has since been joined by ex-Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy at the club.
The prospect of seeing Mahrez and Firmino combine would be a mouth-watering one given how important they’ve been to England’s two most successful clubs over the last half decade.
Mahrez says yes to Al Ahli; big Monday coming for Man City
Now, reporters Fabrizio Romano and Ben Jacobs have provided updates on Mahrez’s future. Firstly, Jacobs claimed Mahrez has said yes to Al Ahli after verbally agreeing personal terms.
Jacobs stressed there’s still plenty of work to be done on the club-to-club end, with City still yet to receive an official bid for the winger.
Romano added his take, telling his YouTube channel. “Al Ahli are pushing to sign Mahrez. The agreement with the player is almost done, but not yet with Man City.
“City still don’t have an official bid, so they will get back to work on Monday and start conversations with Mahrez to understand the state of his conversations with Al Ahli.
“Then they’ll negotiate with Al Ahli is the player gives the final greenlight. So we’re not yet at the done deal stage, but Al Ahli are pushing for Mahrez.”
On the subject of cost, Romano stressed Man City “will not let Mahrez go for free.”
As such, negotiations over the transfer fee will be what makes or breaks Mahrez’s Man City exit this summer.
To that end, the Athletic reported on Thursday that Al Ahli were prepared to stump up around £30m for the Algerian.
That is a significant sum for a player aged 32 and will require careful consideration from Man City if and when an official bid of that size is lodged.