Leicester City manager Claude Puel has hailed the attitude of Riyad Mahrez, who managed to quickly integrate into the squad following his failed move to Manchester City. The Algeria international was hugely disappointed after the Citizens refused to meet the Foxes’ asking price, and this saw him miss nearly a full week of first-team training.
However, on his return, the Algerian has contributed valuably in the form of goals and assists, which includes a dramatic 97th-minute equaliser against Bournemouth. Speaking prior to the West Brom game, Puel admitted that Mahrez’ situation had affected the morale within the squad, though he refused to blame the Algerian directly for the incident.
Former Premier League player Kevin Kilbane believes Riyad Mahrez was mentally upset following his failed move to Manchester City on transfer deadline day. The Algeria international emerged as a surprise target for the Citizens during the backend of the winter transfer window, but ultimately he had to stay put with Leicester City, who demanded in excess for his services.
In a report covered by Off The Ball, Kilbane spoke about the mental condition of players, who have undergone disappointment, and feels it is difficult for them to show up in training irrespective of the wages on offer, he said: "If [Mahrez] is not in the mental state to [train and play], the discussion has got to be had on who he’s going to see from a mental point of view – counselling could be an option for him.
Algeria international Riyad Mahrez has hinted that he could remain at Leicester City beyond the January transfer window. The 26-year-old had been desperate to join a bigger club during the summer, but his efforts to push through a move came to no avail.
Italian giants AS Roma were the leading contenders to pursue Mahrez, but they had three bids turned down by the Foxes - all of which were below the club's £40m asking price. As a result, Mahrez took permission from the Algerian training camp to seal a deadline day agreement, but none of his former suitors including Arsenal and Chelsea made an approach.
Leicester City manager Craig Shakespeare has hailed the professionalism of Riyad Mahrez.
The manager has come in with praise for the Algerian’s reactions after he was not included in the starting lineup for the recent match against Bournemouth. The Algerian has been struggling for form this season and is yet to open the account for the campaign. As a result, Shakespeare decided to drop him to the bench for the recent match against Bournemouth, which finished as a goalless draw. Even though Riyad Mahrez came on with 15 minutes remaining in the game, he was not expected to make a major difference. Yet, Shakespeare was impressed with the professionalism shown by the player.
England boss Gareth Southgate claims that he wants the national team to excite the players when they step onto the field to take on Slovakia in November, coming close after the fairly poor matches for World Cup qualification at the start of September.
After having claimed a comfortable 4-0 win over Malta in the latest qualifier, England will be able to go one step closer towards qualification with a victory over Slovakia. The Slovakians are widely seen as the biggest threat for England reaching the World Cup 2018 automatically or having to go through a play-off.
Billericay have decided to make former Liverpool and Leicester City defender Paul Konchesky as the captain.
The 36-year-old is now the holder of the armband after deciding against a move to Stevenage, despite receiving an offer that was almost twice his wages at Billericay. The former England international is regarded as one of the best players in the Billericay set up.
Wes Morgan has been performing with Leicester City since January of 2016 and quickly turned into a regular starter as the 33 year old English defender made a rapid impact at the King Power Stadium.
It did not take him long to become the captain of the Premier League club and Leicester City has recently experienced a huge change in relation to their standings in the top tier English competition.
Leicester City are prepared to go in a bidding battle with Everton in order to pursue the services of Gylfi Sigurdsson in the summer transfer window.
The Wales international had a top campaign with Swansea City during the previous campaign as his tally of nine goals and 13 assists ensured that the Swans stayed in the top flight.
The only Premier League side remaining in the UEFA Champions League this season Leicester City are set for a showdown against La Liga giants Atletico Madrid.
Ahead of the highly anticipated match former manager of the team Claudio Ranieri hinted that there were problems in the English team’s camp but refused to say anything further.
Garry Linekar remarks that if it was up to him, he would never remove Claudio Ranieri from his chair and let him work as the head coach of the Foxes till the time he wants.
Linekar points out that Leicester’s condition was the same during the 2014-15 Season. They had only just escaped the demotion back then and they are having a hard time surviving this time around as well. So, it goes on to show that they don’t have a great pool of talent like the other big teams because if they had, they would have been consistent.
