Two years ago, Riyad Mahrez was the hottest name on the transfer market, as the Algerian magician was on the wish list of some of the biggest teams in the Europe.
There were serious discussions with Arsenal, as the London club were extremely interested in bringing Mahrez to the Emirates. But the Algerian finally did not go through with the transfer, as he was hoping for one of the European heavyweights to put in a bid for him.
His dream destination was FC Barcelona, as Mahrez held hopes of playing with Lionel Messi at the Nou Camp. Since then, Mahrez has always agitated for a move away from Leicester, as he no longer sees himself at the club anymore.
Things came to a head this summer, when Mahrez went all the way to Barcelona in order to force through his transfer. But it still did not happen, as the Catalan club failed to put in a genuine offer for the winger.
In January, Manchester City put in a late bid for Mahrez but still could not complete the deal, as Leicester City wanted them to up the bid to 90 Million euros.
Frustrated beyond belief, Mahrez went on strike and did not turn to training for more than a week.
Sky sports pundits slammed Mahrez, and called his actions unprofessional.
“I did have sympathy with Mahrez, but I don’t now. Since the window’s shut, you can understand a couple of days to get your head together and sort yourself out, but this is getting ridiculous now.
“I don’t know what the club should do, that’s up to them, they should have taken £65m in my opinion, and now they’re struggling,” said Paul Merson.
“I do have sympathy for him but only in the sense that he must look at Coutinho and Alexis Sanchez who kept their heads down while the clubs work out an agreement, but it hasn’t happened for him.
“The sympathy is that Leicester shouldn’t be asking £90 M for him.
“However, to stay away so long is totally wrong. One or two days maybe, but get yourself back into training and take the stick you’ll get from the lads, get over your guilt and embarrassment.
“What really annoyed me was his so-called friend saying Riyad won’t be coming back to training because he was depressed, which was the wrong terminology,” said Charles Nicholas.
Mahrez has finally returned to training, but it does not look like he will stay for long.
Now we are also hearing that Barcelona may go back once again in the summer, as the Algerian may finally get the move that he always cherished.
