Out of Form Leicester Midfielder Substituted at Half Time During African Cup of Nations Qualifier
Leicester summer singing Rachid Ghezzal has been hooked at half time for the second this season; this time on international duty for Algeria.
Tipped as a potential Riyad Mahrez replacement, the winger has struggled to live up to expectation so far, enduring a tough start to life in Leicester.
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Ghezzal was first pulled off at half time during Leicester's 3-1 home win over Huddersfield back in September. Following this, he failed to make an appearance against Newcastle and then managed only a ten minute cameo in the most recent 2-1 loss to Everton.
Despite his unimpressive start to Premier League life, the Algerian was called up to his national team for the recent African Cup of Nations qualifier against Benin.
Playing against Benin, the former Lyon and Monaco winger had a chance to redeem himself on the international stage.
Frustratingly, Ghezzal did anything but that. Algerian manager Djamel Belmadi, took a leaf out of Claude Puel’s notebook and subbed the 26-year-old at half time following a poor start to the game.
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Benin went on to win the qualifier 1-0. They are now tied with Alergia on seven points at the top of Group D.
The £12.6m signing has featured six times in the Premier League this season, mustering just one goal.
However, the winger may be able to take solace in the fact that former Leicester City star, and Algerian teammate, Riyad Mahrez also took a little while to settle into English football.
After originally being labeled as not physical enough for the league, Mahrez famously went on to prove those doubters wrong. He scored 17 goals and won the PFA Players' Player of the Year of the year in Leicester's incredible league winning season.
Things certainly may seem tough for Rachid Ghezzal right now, but looking at Riyad Mahrez's path to the top, it's certainly too early to write Leicester's newest Algerian winger off just yet.
