They’re desperate for some transfer activity.
Manchester City’s £68m bid for Riyad Mahrez took the footballing world by surprise this afternoon. But only because there were no reports linking City to the Leicester player prior to today’s bid. This is hardly out of character for City; they’re chasing a quadruple and sitting on a pile of money.
Leroy Sané’s injury, sustained against Cardiff at the weekend after a nasty tackle from Joe Bennett, has ruled him out for several weeks. While this probably won’t stop City winning the league title, it leaves them with fewer attacking options. They have the likes of Brahim Diaz and Phil Foden on the fringes, but as they chase four different trophies, Pep Guardiola wants a Sané replacement and who better than Riyad Mahrez?
City’s ability to slap £68m down on the table for a player when one of their first XI is ruled out for a few weeks says a lot about their wealth as well as their determination to win everything they can.
City fans will be delighted if Mahrez ditches Leicester to join them, but the story has triggered panic among the Liverpool fanbase, who don’t seem likely to replace Philippe Coutinho or Daniel Sturridge, who both departed this month.
Mahrez looking to force the move to Man City. Mad how they feel Bernardo Silva isn't enough to cover for the injured Sané, who'll be back in March, but we haven't acted to replace Coutinho https://t.co/iPvHZ8SOqm pic.twitter.com/drdtxm41Cc
— Sam McGuire (@SamMcGuire90) January 30, 2018
Riyad Mahrez is set to hand in a transfer request at Leicester City. Should Liverpool act on it? 🤔
— Anfield Edition (@AnfieldEdition) January 30, 2018
https://twitter.com/adamforde4/status/958388549128282112
The LEAST Liverpool owe us is to at least try for Mahrez. Don’t just let City make one fucking enquiry and show us how it’s done.
— Anfield Leak (@AnfieldLeak) January 30, 2018
https://twitter.com/AnfieIdNoise/status/958389502686433280
https://twitter.com/iAmRaviS/status/958373132594765824
https://twitter.com/NaathanByrne/status/958385330918514688
https://twitter.com/Uzzyyyy/status/958394621184356352
Liverpool fans have a right to be worried, given that the possibility of losing Roberto Firmino still lingers. Although, were they to sign Mahrez, he would be directly competing with Mohamed Salah for a spot in the starting XI.
It seems as though any half decent attacker would do, though. He doesn’t have to be Mahrez, just someone to replace the outgoings.
