Manchester City are scrambling for Riyad Mahrez’s signature before Wednesday’s deadline following news Leroy Sane could miss up to two months with injury, claims The Daily Mirror.
Pep Guardiola revealed Sane will not be back until the end of March after scan results revealed the Germany international suffered ankle ligament damage during City’s 2-0 win over Cardiff on Sunday.
The Premier League leaders announced the club-record arrival of Aymeric Laporte from Athletic Club on Tuesday afternoon and now Guardiola’s side have set their sights on Leicester ace Mahrez.
The Algeria international has been pushing for a move to one of the biggest clubs in the world in the last two years and is almost always linked with deadline day transfer sagas.
Claude Puel has already insisted that the 26-year-old will not be leaving Leicester this month but City are poised to test their resolve with a late bid, although even that may not be enough.
While Leicester do not want to lose their best player midway through the season, there is also the fact that it comes so late into the window that it would be almost impossible to get a replacement in time.
However, Puel’s side may look at Fousseni Diabete’s impressive debut at the weekend and believe they already have someone capable of filling the void left by Mahrez.
The Algerian winger has returned to his best this season, playing a direct hand in a Premier League goal every 130 minutes of action (eight goals, seven assists).
With that in mind, it’s worth investing in Mahrez on Football INDEX. His share price has increased 7.30% in the last 24 hours of trading and will only continue to rise as speculating intensifies.
