Report: Man City Set to Finally Land Riyad Mahrez After Leicester Drops Asking Price
Manchester City are ready to make Leicester City star Riyad Mahrez their first signing of the summer, after the Midlands club dropped their asking price.
The Algerian winger, who was voted PFA Player of the Year in the season of Leicester's incredible title win in 2016, looks like he will finally get his wish to leave the King Power Stadium.
Mahrez has wanted to leave the Foxes in each of the past two transfer windows but his departure has been blocked by the club. In January, the winger was the subject of a bid of £50m plus Patrick Roberts by City. However, Leicester rejected the proposal, instead holding out for a whopping £95m.
The Blues were forced to walk away from the deal, and Mahrez then went AWOL for two weeks and was fined by the Foxes upon eventually returning.
The star eventually knuckled down for the remainder of the season and ended up contributing 12 goals and 10 assists in the Premier League - and it is that form which has reignited City's interest again this summer.
As reported by the Manchester Evening News, Pep Guardiola sees Mahrez as his top target this summer and is ready to sanction a move with Leicester willing to take a lower fee to part ways with him. However, it is unclear exactly how much the Foxes would be willing to accept for their star man.
Manager Claude Puel is keen to avoid any more discontent within the dressing room and wants to cash in on Mahrez and reinvest ahead of the 2018/19 campaign.
The Leicester Mercury claim the two clubs are in talks but the deal is taking longer than anticipated due to the agreement of agent fees, or lack thereof.
