As reported by The Daily Mirror, both Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are ready to make their move for Leicester City attacker Riyad Mahrez in January.
What’s the story?
Mahrez has been a sensation at Leicester City, one of the players who provided the exceptional form to lead them to an English Premier League title two seasons ago. Now he’s been chased by clubs who share that ambition to be title contenders.
The Mirror say that arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal are looking to bring the right-winger to London, who is rated at £30m.
With the futures of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil in doubt, the Gunners are especially keen to sign the player, say the paper.
Is Arsenal the right destination for the Algerian international?
The right fit for Arsenal?
As noted, Mahrez was one of the catalysts for Leicester’s unlikely title win, providing an attacking contribution that would be an asset to either Arsenal or Tottenham. That season he scored a fantastic 17 Premier League goals, also pitching in with 10 assists for his teammates.
While he struggled to repeat that success last term, he did still reach double figures for goals in all competitions and notched up another seven assists. In a struggling side, those are good contributions.
It was his form in the UEFA Champions League that perhaps points to a player read to make the step up to either London club, who are both looking to make progress into the knockout stages of Europe this term. He was instrumental in Leicester City’s run to the quarter-final of the big competition and could perhaps provide the perfect mid-season boost to a team with continental ambitions.
He has arguably out grown Leicester, but can he make a success of himself on a bigger stage? We wouldn’t bet against it.
