French Giants Enter Race for Leicester Wantaway Riyad Mahrez According to Report

Riyad Mahrez's transfer saga is still ongoing from the summer, with Ligue 1 side Marseille the latest club to be linked with the star winger.

Mahrez made a request to be allowed to leave Leicester last summer, after the club failed to put up any real defence of their Premier League. However, despite links with Roma, Arsenal and (more tentatively) Real Madrid, nothing materialised.

The 26-year-old Algeria international has not yet given up on a move away from the King Power Stadium by all accounts and while new Foxes boss Claude Puel is said to be attempting to 'seduce' Mahrez into staying, he may have a fight on his hands with Marseille interest in a January deal.

That is according to Catalan source Mundo Deportivo, who claim the French giants could make a €30m move for Mahrez - a figure similar to the amount they landed another wantaway Premier League star Dimitri Payet from West Ham, one year ago.

Puel, a one-time manager of Marseille's Ligue 1 rivals AS Monaco, is determined to keep his best players, in spite of an underwhelming start to the 2017/18 season. However, he also admitted that he understands his players' frustrations post-title win.

“It is down to me to make these players want to stay by the fact we are playing good football. I have always got to attract them, to seduce them," he said.

“It is normal for a player, if they win the title and play Champions League, that sometimes there is disappointment, frustration because now they know the high level."

Mahrez's suitors Marseille are in fine form in Ligue 1 and are undefeated domestically since September, having won four of their last six league outings.

In addition to Payet, they also boast former Premier Leaguers Florian Thauvin, Patrice Evra, Jordan Amavi and Clinton N'Jie among their current ranks.