Riyad Mahrez chooses Arsenal as Leicester City ace closes in on switch

Jamie Vardy may have stolen all the headlines last season for his goal scoring capabilities, inspiring grass to grace story and not forgetting the simple fact that he is English, but Riyad Mahrez played an intricate role in advancing Leicester City’s title charge.

Nigeria forward Ahmed Musa posted an impressive performance on Saturday for his new club Leicester City as they defeated Celtic in their pre-season International Champions Cup clash in at Celtic Park, Glasgow.

When asked if he was confident Mahrez would stay at Leicester, Ranieri told Sky Sports: “I am always confident”.

The Algerian worldwide who is the current best player according to the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) would be the second highly rated Leicester player to quit the camp of the champions.

Claudio Ranieri has reiterated that Riyad Mahrez is happy at Leicester and joked that anyone weighing up a bid should consider offering north of £100million.

Definitely not. Instead, the attack-minded superstar should rather go to a team where he will be the first choice star or has a more realistic chance of playing more regular football.

Yesterday, (July 23) it was reported by several European media houses that Arsenal are all set to rope in the Algerian worldwide for a hefty transfer fee. “You like to hear the likes of Riyad and Vards [Jamie Vardy] are staying and want to continue what we keep achieving”.

“For us it is very important because he is one of our stars”.

Brendan Rodgers’ side finished the stronger but were unable to find a second goal, and Leicester snatched a 6-5 victory on penalties, Daniel Amartey converting after Kasper Schmeichel had denied James Forrest.

“I changed him at last because I said ‘okay, his job is done, it’s better to avoid injury'”.

“I am very happy today”.

“It was a very good match and show”.

The Foxes now head to the United States for a game in the same competition against French Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain in California on July 31, before taking on Barcelona in Sweden on August 3.

The Italian also suggested that Mahrez might not play for Arsenal – or another big club – because he will not be the “fantasy” star of the side.

“My players have come back with the same mentality”. We are getting better.