Mahrez not expecting January transfer
Riyad Mahrez has said he will not leave Leicester City in the January transfer window, although he does not think the club will win the Premier League title.
Mahrez, 24, has been in brilliant form for table-topping Leicester this season, scoring his 11th league goal of the campaign as the Foxes beat champions Chelsea 2-1 on Monday night.
His displays have led to suggestions he could leave when the transfer window reopens on Jan. 1, but the winger has echoed manager Claudio Ranieri’s insistence that he will not be sold.
The Algeria international told RMC: “The best thing for me would be to stay. I’m not going to leave in January — it wouldn’t be good for my team if I left.
“If we lose an individual like me, [Jamie] Vardy or [N’Golo] Kante, it could penalise the team. I’d prefer to continue with the team until the end of the season.”
Asked if he thinks Leicester will win the Premier League title, Mahrez said: “No we won’t be. We don’t have broad enough shoulders. The other teams have bigger squads. At a certain point they’ll get the upper hand.”
Having joined Leicester from Le Havre in 2014, he was also asked why a bigger French club didn’t secure his services two years ago. He said: “You’ll have to ask them — I don’t know.
“At Le Havre, when there were only six months of my contract left, nobody [from a French team] came looking for me in concrete terms. There were approaches but no offer.
“Leicester pushed hard for me. I felt that they really wanted me. I went there without knowing the country. I took a risk — I took it on.
“And today I’m very happy to have taken it. Everything good started from the moment I left for there.”
France correspondent Mark Rodden contributed to this report
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