Riyad Mahrez to Remain at Leicester

[LFCMadLad]

Reports today that Marhez has told Leicester that he’ll never play for them again. 

I say good on Leicester for not bowing down. It might cost them a few million in the long run and they will certainly miss him on the pitch, but they’ve sent out a clear message that they won’t be bullied. 

What to do with Marhez now? Well if he’s refusing to play then I’d stick him on gardening leave and refuse to pay him his wages the little fuck. 

[Happy Blue]

1 hour ago, DeadLinesman said:

Finally rattled Happy Blue. Good times 😎

??? why would i be rattled mate? 

[Happy Blue]

Toys are out the pram

we will see with Riyad when he can come back with us.

"All the players and staff will help him to come back with a smile and to enjoy his football."

Read more at https://talksport.com/football/riyad-mahrez-disillusioned-after-leicester-city-deny-winger-move-manchester-city#kUZ96CoAGrEiDRHT.99

 

Has he gone on strike?

[Dan+]

Convenient hyperbole which cannot be proven or disproven. I'm calling bullshit and he'll be back by the weekend. He's got absolutely nothing to gain by not playing. Even if he does resent us, it benefits both parties for him to play. Our complete lack of creativity without him was on show again last night.

I think if managed right, we've done the right thing, and showed some commendable backbone.

But we must sell him in the summer.

[Rick]

It's not Marhrez's fault that city came in late. How many times now have Leicester not upheld their promise to him that he can leave if a bigger club comes in with a good offer? Think it's a bit of a pisstake tbh. You were going to accept 50 off Roma in the summer, but they couldn't reach that figure sl he stayed. City come in with 65m + a player and you reject that. Mahrez isn't Coutinho, he isnt an elite player. To price him out of a move is just cultish from Leicester. They know that nobody will come close to the stupid figure of 90m that they want. 

You can say he hasn't worked hard for the club despite everything that's happened. I'd be raging and upset like he is right now, your club has had everything off him, one of the main reasons you have a fucking league title. Just sell the lad and stop being cunts about it.

[LFCMadLad]

14 minutes ago, FOYM said:

It's not Marhrez's fault that city came in late. How many times now have Leicester not upheld their promise to him that he can leave if a bigger club comes in with a good offer? Think it's a bit of a pisstake tbh. You were going to accept 50 off Roma in the summer, but they couldn't reach that figure sl he stayed. City come in with 65m + a player and you reject that. Mahrez isn't Coutinho, he isnt an elite player. To price him out of a move is just cultish from Leicester. They know that nobody will come close to the stupid figure of 90m that they want. 

You can say he hasn't worked hard for the club despite everything that's happened. I'd be raging and upset like he is right now, your club has had everything off him, one of the main reasons you have a fucking league title. Just sell the lad and stop being cunts about it.

You weren’t saying that when Barcelona were hounding us for Coutinho, when he was handing in transfer requests on the last day of the window. 

You went on a massive rage, slagging off the player, the manager and the club owners. 

Will you have the same attitude when Madrid try every trick in the book to sign Salah?

At least Leicester have stood their ground and said ‘no, fuck off’. 

We need more of how Leicester have handled this in my opinion. 

[HK85]

You'd imagine there will be a few more interested clubs in the summer if they know he is available. 

Liverpool looking to replace Salah. Mourinho just because City want him and maybe Chelsea's new manager. 

[Rick]

35 minutes ago, LFCMadLad said:

You weren’t saying that when Barcelona were hounding us for Coutinho, when he was handing in transfer requests on the last day of the window. 

You went on a massive rage, slagging off the player, the manager and the club owners. 

Will you have the same attitude when Madrid try every trick in the book to sign Salah?

At least Leicester have stood their ground and said ‘no, fuck off’. 

We need more of how Leicester have handled this in my opinion. 

Right. First off, I slagged off the player when he handed thhe transfer request in. Mahrez hasn't done that this window. 

Secondly, we sold Coutinho in the next window. We promised him his move and he has got it. Leicester have promised Mahrez he can leave for about 4 Windows now, but have gone back on their word. 

How much do Leicester really expect to get? They are pricing the lad against Coutinho...thats not fair because he isn't as good, and he is nowhere near as marketable. Who the fuck is going to pay 90m? Nobody, they gonna keep Mahrez forever? 65m and a player is an excellent bid from City. I think Leicester are stupid for rejecting that much.

Lastly, I'm a hypocrite.

[Happy Blue]

A lengthy statement was issued last night by the Riyad Mahrez camp after his failed deadline day£65million plus transfer to Manchester City fell through.

Here is the full statement released by a ‘close friend’ of the Leicester City star to Sky Sports…

 

"Riyad is very depressed this evening over the events of the last two days. He doesn't understand why Leicester have behaved in the way they have.

"This is the fourth transfer window in which Leicester have said they will allow him to leave. He feels very strongly that he has done everything in his powers for the club.

"He played a huge part in Leicester's promotion in his first season. He then helped them make history in winning the Premier League title and he has done what the chairman has asked of him, which is to stay at the King Power and secure the club's Premier League safety.

"They have let N'Golo Kante and Danny Drinkwater go. He would have been the record sale in the history of the club and the record purchase for Manchester City. By my calculations, Leicester would have made £59.8m profit on the player they bought from Le Havre for £350,000.

"He's been told by many of his former team-mates that, to get out of Leicester, you have to go to war, which he has tried to avoid. He's given his all for Leicester this season so that he could leave in this window.

"Joining Manchester City would have been a dream for him. Playing for Pep Guardiola is something he is still desperate to do. That seems a long way off right now. He's very down about how he's been treated by a club he has served so well."

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/full-statement-released-riyad-mahrez-1149778

 

IF we go back for Mahrez in the summer the offer will be a lot less than 60million, we was only willing to pay that much now because of injury's and the fact he could play in the CL, we can get an equally good player in the summer for a lot less than 60milion, this was Mahrez's big chance

[LFCMadLad]

He’s under contract. Fuck him. 

[Stan]

1 hour ago, Happy Blue said:

A lengthy statement was issued last night by the Riyad Mahrez camp after his failed deadline day£65million plus transfer to Manchester City fell through.

Here is the full statement released by a ‘close friend’ of the Leicester City star to Sky Sports…

 

"Riyad is very depressed this evening over the events of the last two days. He doesn't understand why Leicester have behaved in the way they have.

"This is the fourth transfer window in which Leicester have said they will allow him to leave. He feels very strongly that he has done everything in his powers for the club.

"He played a huge part in Leicester's promotion in his first season. He then helped them make history in winning the Premier League title and he has done what the chairman has asked of him, which is to stay at the King Power and secure the club's Premier League safety.

"They have let N'Golo Kante and Danny Drinkwater go. He would have been the record sale in the history of the club and the record purchase for Manchester City. By my calculations, Leicester would have made £59.8m profit on the player they bought from Le Havre for £350,000.

"He's been told by many of his former team-mates that, to get out of Leicester, you have to go to war, which he has tried to avoid. He's given his all for Leicester this season so that he could leave in this window.

"Joining Manchester City would have been a dream for him. Playing for Pep Guardiola is something he is still desperate to do. That seems a long way off right now. He's very down about how he's been treated by a club he has served so well."

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/full-statement-released-riyad-mahrez-1149778

 

IF we go back for Mahrez in the summer the offer will be a lot less than 60million, we was only willing to pay that much now because of injury's and the fact he could play in the CL, we can get an equally good player in the summer for a lot less than 60milion, this was Mahrez's big chance

Hold on. 

 

This is just rehashed from what Sky have said. Funny how this mysterious 'friend' pops up and hasn't done so before. 

Cynical me says that Sky made that bullshit up, this 'friend' doesn't exist. It was about 5pm when their own source at City (Ben Ransom?) said the deal is off. Jim Cunting White comes on and still peddles the rumours. They got bored on SSN and had no other big news to shout about after the Auba/Giroud/Batshuayi deals were done. So they stretched this out and made it a bit more interesting by bringing up this friend with speculation that anyone, literally anyone, could have made up by putting 2 and 2 together. 

[Stan]

1 hour ago, FOYM said:

Right. First off, I slagged off the player when he handed thhe transfer request in. Mahrez hasn't done that this window. 

Secondly, we sold Coutinho in the next window. We promised him his move and he has got it. Leicester have promised Mahrez he can leave for about 4 Windows now, but have gone back on their word. 

How much do Leicester really expect to get? They are pricing the lad against Coutinho...thats not fair because he isn't as good, and he is nowhere near as marketable. Who the fuck is going to pay 90m? Nobody, they gonna keep Mahrez forever? 65m and a player is an excellent bid from City. I think Leicester are stupid for rejecting that much.

Lastly, I'm a hypocrite.

You say he isn't as good but he's got better goals and assists stats in the last 3 years in the Premier League. In a lesser capable side let's say. 

I'm accepting of the fact he'll leave in summer for cheaper. I don't mind that. But don't try and unsettle a player/club on deadline day and not expect that club to shove 2 fingers up at you and tell you to jog on until you meet the valuation set on him. If they really wanted him, they'd have bid earlier on in the window and not come in with an offer that was blatantly going to be rejected. 

Man City enquired. 

Leicester told them the price. 

Man City enquired again with a marginal increase of bid. 

What did they expect to happen? 

The way your posts are made out brings me back to what I discussed with True Blue earlier on in this thread. Why should we bend over just cos a top 6 club says so and thinks they're offering the right price? I'm somewhat proud of our club that we told them to do one. We're not in a position where we need the money (thankfully Phil Thompson and Thierry Henry mentioned this. Dullards like Charlie Nicholas and Merson couldn't accept this). It frustrates me that people think we should just let him go just cos we'd make a profit on him. Why? Mahrez will get his move eventually. Everyone knows this. But we as a club won't settle for something we believe to be less than what we value him at at any given time. Most importantly, Mahrez knows this is) and has been) the case.

[HK85]

Squad harmony is going to be down now, Mahrez' mates in the team will be fairly pissed off he didn't get the move he continually asked for and will probably also feel that no matter how well they perform, they'll be enslaved by Leicester even though they would bring big money to them. 

[Happy Blue]

1 hour ago, Stan said:

Man City enquired. 

Leicester told them the price. 

Man City enquired again with a marginal increase of bid. 

What did they expect to happen? 

Mahrez to take a golf club out and start smashing up the boardroom while insulting the owners wife and peeing on the carpet, taking a shit in the directors fridge!!   ...i dont think he was really committed to a move tbh 

[Rick]

1 hour ago, Stan said:

You say he isn't as good but he's got better goals and assists stats in the last 3 years in the Premier League. In a lesser capable side let's say. 

I'm accepting of the fact he'll leave in summer for cheaper. I don't mind that. But don't try and unsettle a player/club on deadline day and not expect that club to shove 2 fingers up at you and tell you to jog on until you meet the valuation set on him. If they really wanted him, they'd have bid earlier on in the window and not come in with an offer that was blatantly going to be rejected. 

Man City enquired. 

Leicester told them the price. 

Man City enquired again with a marginal increase of bid. 

What did they expect to happen? 

The way your posts are made out brings me back to what I discussed with True Blue earlier on in this thread. Why should we bend over just cos a top 6 club says so and thinks they're offering the right price? I'm somewhat proud of our club that we told them to do one. We're not in a position where we need the money (thankfully Phil Thompson and Thierry Henry mentioned this. Dullards like Charlie Nicholas and Merson couldn't accept this). It frustrates me that people think we should just let him go just cos we'd make a profit on him. Why? Mahrez will get his move eventually. Everyone knows this. But we as a club won't settle for something we believe to be less than what we value him at at any given time. Most importantly, Mahrez knows this is) and has been) the case.

You've kept a player against his will more than once. This is the 4th time if I'm correct? What way is that to behave as a football club? What else does he have to do in order for you to accept that he want to move onto bigger things? 

He delivered the title to your club, he's scored and created so many important goals and he has always got his head down even after your club went back on its word. You are constantly changing the goalposts and it's ridiculous. If I were a Leicester player I'd be thinking "will I be priced out of leaving too?" 

Mahrez and your club have had agreements on numerous occasion, and your club hasn't followed up on them. You promised him he could go if somebody bid 50m, city bid well over that and you'd decide no? I can see why he would fucking hate the people in charge at your club, I'd be giving some cunt a hiding if they fucked me like that.

[Dan+]

4 hours ago, FOYM said:

It's not Marhrez's fault that city came in late. How many times now have Leicester not upheld their promise to him that he can leave if a bigger club comes in with a good offer? Think it's a bit of a pisstake tbh. You were going to accept 50 off Roma in the summer, but they couldn't reach that figure sl he stayed. City come in with 65m + a player and you reject that. Mahrez isn't Coutinho, he isnt an elite player. To price him out of a move is just cultish from Leicester. They know that nobody will come close to the stupid figure of 90m that they want. 

You can say he hasn't worked hard for the club despite everything that's happened. I'd be raging and upset like he is right now, your club has had everything off him, one of the main reasons you have a fucking league title. Just sell the lad and stop being cunts about it.

To be precise, in our eyes, 0 times.

[Stan]

53 minutes ago, FOYM said:

You've kept a player against his will more than once. This is the 4th time if I'm correct? What way is that to behave as a football club? What else does he have to do in order for you to accept that he want to move onto bigger things? 

He delivered the title to your club, he's scored and created so many important goals and he has always got his head down even after your club went back on its word. You are constantly changing the goalposts and it's ridiculous. If I were a Leicester player I'd be thinking "will I be priced out of leaving too?" 

Mahrez and your club have had agreements on numerous occasion, and your club hasn't followed up on them. You promised him he could go if somebody bid 50m, city bid well over that and you'd decide no? I can see why he would fucking hate the people in charge at your club, I'd be giving some cunt a hiding if they fucked me like that.

well.

there's a well-publicised 'gentleman's agreement' between the chairman and Mahrez when he signed his new contract (seemed happy to do so on £100k/w may I add) that if the right offer comes in, we would sell. Clearly since that new contract was signed, his value has gone up.

Maybe it's not us changing the goalposts and maybe it's the market in itself? I don't see how we're wholly to blame for this? You've put your own view on why you think Mahrez is worth £50m. Our club clearly don't feel that way with the way the market has gone. Why would we lose out on some value of one of the best players we've ever had? 

That promise that he could go if someone bid £50m - where was that said? Who bid £50m back then? If I remember correctly, only Roma bid and it was for about £35m? 

 

[Dan+]

4 times is utter bollocks. Its twice, last summer and this one.

The offer wasnt £65mil and a player, it was actually £50mil plus Mangala who they value at £15mil. That isn't unrejectable at all.

Comparing him to Coutinho? Are we asking for £140mil? Going by what you say, you're actually saying our valuation is fair.

I'm going to wait and judge him on what happens on the pitch. Sky aren't credible anymore.

[LFCMadLad]

Poor old little Marhez being held against his will!

Wasn’t being held at gunpoint when he signed a new 4 year deal worth £100k a week was he?

Fuck’m, tell him to honour his contract or don’t get paid. 

[Rick]

Guys, let the boy go. Newcastle will take him on loan if you want. 

For the record, I'm only being about 70% serious. I do think Leicester are only hurting themselves in the long run. It's just risking squad morale dropping, risking his value going down and risking the appeal from the group of players that could use your club as a stepping stone. 

Now knowing some of the ins and outs I will admit I was wrong with some of what I said, but the sentiment still stands. How much will you actually sell him for? 

[Stan]

4 minutes ago, FOYM said:

Guys, let the boy go. Newcastle will take him on loan if you want. 

For the record, I'm only being about 70% serious. I do think Leicester are only hurting themselves in the long run. It's just risking squad morale dropping, risking his value going down and risking the appeal from the group of players that could use your club as a stepping stone. 

Now knowing some of the ins and outs I will admit I was wrong with some of what I said, but the sentiment still stands. How much will you actually sell him for? 

it definitely won't be as much as £90m in the summer.

But our owners won't mind - we're not a club desperate for money any more. Even 5 years ago we would have only been able to command a fee for a third of that probably. 

Riyad has to realise though that, while he may have feel like he's been badly treated, it will do him no good going on 'strike' or being sulky for 6 months. I've no doubt he'll be leaving, and for a price that will suit everyone (it probably will be about £50m or around that). He may feel a bit sore for the next 2-3 weeks, maybe longer - I'm sure the £100k/w will help with that though - but it's in his best interest that he puts this saga aside. Play as he has been til the end of the season, ignore any media dislike (or player dislike) of him, get a fucking grip, stop being a mardy arse and leave with a bit more respect in summer. Everyone at Leicester loves him for his ability and how that has helped us get to a different level we've never been on before. But he's been a bit of a tit recently - no-one at the club is upset that he wants to move, it's the way he's gone about it. 

[Dan+]

I want it to have sent out the message that if you want to sign our best players then you've got to be prepared to pay up. He's got 2 and half years left on his contract, they stormed in with about 36 hours of the window left open. If you want to sign our absolute key player at that time, you've got to pay up. Man City didn't pay up. £50mil and Mangala is not an offer we can't refuse. We're obviously nowhere near as rich as them, but we aren't hard up either.

If they had come in and offered us £60mil at the start of January, I reckon we might've taken it. That way we'd at least have gotten a replacement in. Selling him leaves us without our best player and reliance on a 22 year old winger from Ligue 2 (ironically, exactly what Mahrez was when we bought him) to fill his void. That's too big an ask to put on someone with that little experience.

If he goes on to not play for us again this season, I will concede it was an absolute bullet through our own feet.

But Mahrez can be the difference between us qualifying for Europe this season. I think without him, we're in serious danger of losing 7th to Burnley or Everton (and we already have). With him on song, I'd make us favourites, and we absolutely should be going for that.

I do have sympathy with Mahrez because it's a great move for him, but Man City only really showed an interest once they had lost Sane for a few weeks and their desire to get him was never as great as some other transfers.

If it was up to me, I would seriously try and get a deal arranged as soon as possible to have him go there in the summer. That's the only way I think you keep him happy. He then gets his move, he has our trust again and we hopefully get that quality from him for 4 more months.

Not an elite player you said. Arguably. But if he isn't elite, why did Man City offer that much for him? I truly do believe in their side he could end up being considered that.

[HK85]

Don't blame him. 

[The Artful Dodger]

Totally agree with Leicester's stance, Manchester City should have started negotiations early if they were serious.  He was literally a panic buy and Leicester would have been left with nothing.  It's only fair to allow a club time to find someone.

[LFCMadLad]

2 hours ago, Dan said:

I want it to have sent out the message that if you want to sign our best players then you've got to be prepared to pay up. He's got 2 and half years left on his contract, they stormed in with about 36 hours of the window left open. If you want to sign our absolute key player at that time, you've got to pay up. Man City didn't pay up. £50mil and Mangala is not an offer we can't refuse. We're obviously nowhere near as rich as them, but we aren't hard up either.

If they had come in and offered us £60mil at the start of January, I reckon we might've taken it. That way we'd at least have gotten a replacement in. Selling him leaves us without our best player and reliance on a 22 year old winger from Ligue 2 (ironically, exactly what Mahrez was when we bought him) to fill his void. That's too big an ask to put on someone with that little experience.

If he goes on to not play for us again this season, I will concede it was an absolute bullet through our own feet.

But Mahrez can be the difference between us qualifying for Europe this season. I think without him, we're in serious danger of losing 7th to Burnley or Everton (and we already have). With him on song, I'd make us favourites, and we absolutely should be going for that.

I do have sympathy with Mahrez because it's a great move for him, but Man City only really showed an interest once they had lost Sane for a few weeks and their desire to get him was never as great as some other transfers.

If it was up to me, I would seriously try and get a deal arranged as soon as possible to have him go there in the summer. That's the only way I think you keep him happy. He then gets his move, he has our trust again and we hopefully get that quality from him for 4 more months.

Not an elite player you said. Arguably. But if he isn't elite, why did Man City offer that much for him? I truly do believe in their side he could end up being considered that.

Great post, totally agree. 

 

 

 

 

 

Not as good as Salah though