Robbie Savage Hits Out at Leicester Board Following Mahrez-City Transfer Saga

Former Leicester City midfielder Robbie Savage has hit out at the Foxes board, claiming Riyad Mahrez should have been allowed to leave the club for Manchester City back in January.

Mahrez was subject to a cash-plus-player offer from the league-leaders, which equated to approximately £65m, though this fell short of Leicester’s mammoth £95m valuation.

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In an effort to force through the move, the 26-year-old handed in a transfer request on the 30th January, but the Foxes were insistent on keeping the Algerian international at the club.

Since the proposed move fell through, Mahrez has been making the headlines for missing training and angering his teammates, while he is yet to make a Premier League appearance since the end of the transfer saga.

Savage- writing in his column for The Daily Mirror- has said that he doesn’t see the point in Leicester insisting on keeping Mahrez when he is clearly unhappy, while urging the former Premier League champions to cut their losses in the summer.

Savage wrote: "After everything he has done for Leicester – a £460,000 snip who is now worth more than 100 times as much – surely there comes a point where it is churlish to stand in the way of his ambition.

"Leicester are not going to finish in the top four and they are not going to go down, so I don't understand why they were not prepared to let him go for £60m.

"When Leicester look at the bigger picture, surely they will have to concede that Riyad Mahrez has been an unbelievably good player for them... but it's time to let him fulfil his potential. I see no benefit in keeping a player who may only go through the motions."

Leicester dropped points at home to a revitalised Swansea in a 1-1 draw on Saturday afternoon, leaving them eighth in the league. The Foxes will have to travel to The Etihad next in the Premier League when they face off against league-leaders Manchester City next Saturday.