Italian Sporting Director Says Leicester Prevented Riyad Mahrez From Joining Roma or Barcelona

It's no secret that Riyad Mahrez has been wanting to leave Leicester City for the past two seasons.

Following the Foxes' unbelievable Premier League title win in 2016, the Algerian winger approached the club with a plea to be released. But despite being reportedly promised that he would be allowed to leave after one more season, he's still playing his football for the King Power side.

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According to AS Roma sporting director, Monchi, the player would have joined his club during the summer if Leicester didn't refuse to let him go.

Monchi revealed that the Serie A side were desperate for someone to come in and replace Mohamed Salah, now at Liverpool, but were rebuffed by the Foxes, who snubbed Barcelona as well.

“We wanted a left-footed winger to replace Mohamed Salah and put it all on Mahrez, but the only reason he didn’t come was because the club wouldn’t sell," Monchi told Gazzetta dello Sport (H/T Goal).

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“It’s not an excuse, they said no to Barcelona too.

“Once Mahrez was off the table, we looked around and decided it was better to go for Patrik Schick, who was not the ideal profile for that role, but would be an investment for the club.

“It would’ve been a mistake in my view to give up on Schick just for tactical reasons.”

Despite his wish to leave Leicester, Mahrez has behaved quite admirably, refusing to upset the cart and going on playing like he normally would. 

With the January transfer window now on the horizon, he may get his move pretty soon, yet the Foxes have proven quite stubborn over their players in recent times, especially the Algerian.