It’s fair to say we were all astonished with Leicester’s season last year, as it was more of a case of ‘when will they drop off’ throughout the entire Premier League season.
Many fans across the country underestimated their talent and resilience and never really took them seriously as genuine title contenders. As they thrived of people’s expectations and doubts, the question remains, will Mahrez be there next season?
Where it all began
From Sarcelles, France, a true talent was born. With his father playing football in Algeria, Mahrez gained a huge interest in the sport. As he sadly passed away when Riyad was just 15 years of age, Mahrez said: “I don’t know if I started to be more serious but after the death of my dad things started to go for me.”
As Riyad started his journey at 4th division French side Quimper, where he spent a small portion of his time, only managing to contribute to 27 games for the club while bagging just one goal, he saw his sights elsewhere.
He got snapped up by Le Havre who lied in Ligue 2, played for the B team for three years at an extremely young age, and scored 24 goals and averaging more than one goal every three games. For a winger, those were sensational numbers.
He had been granted to play for the first team years after impressing the coaches. Playing two seasons for the first team, it would be difficult to say he exactly lit the league up, but it’s safe to say the quality from the two sides was quite some distance and Mahrez may have not taken the competition too seriously after such an electrifying start to his Le Havre career. Years after in 2014, a Leicester City side competing in the championship got his signature, and the rest is history…
Why he should join Arsenal
N’Golo Kante parted ways with Leicester after an extremely successful year on his breakthrough season, after being involved in the ‘PFA Team Of The Season’ with former team mates Vardy, Wes Morgan and of course Riyad Mahrez.
YouTube: Riyad Mahrez – Crazy Skills Show 2016 HD
With speculation ongoing regarding Mahrez’s future, I believe he will perform best at Arsenal. The Gunners haven’t been active this transfer window bar the one addition of crafty Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka for a hefty price tag, and there’s no reason why they can’t outspend their rivals and capture the signature of potentially the most gifted player in the league.
Mahrez has sublime footwork, and that clearly shows in the way he would orchestrate Leicester’s counter attacks last season. Most teams never took them seriously: They wouldn’t give them much respect and attack them like a lower class opposition and Leicester City would obviously capitalize on that.
Arsenals 4-2-3-1 formation would work wonders with Mahrez on either wing, accompanied by Özil at the number 10 role and Sanchez on the other wing. With Özil pulling the strings with two goal scoring wingers complimented by a prolific striker in Mauro Icardi for example, Arsenal would automatically be title contenders. The Algerian would thrive of Arsenal’s ‘Tiki Taka’ philosophy due to his exquisite passing and vision he possesses. If I’m Arsene Wenger, I’d be devastated to let such an opportunity walk by.
Importance to Leicester
The way Leicester approach every game, Mahrez’s flair is vitally needed in the side, as it creates a whole new dimension and Mahrez has everyone on the edge of their seat whenever he has the ball.
Vardy can feed of his through balls to break the defensive line, and no matter who you’ve got, you’re not out running Jamie Vardy. Another asset of his game is the way he can create goals out of nothing. If you look back at his goal vs. City at the Etihad, Mahrez clearly shows he has glimpses of a world-class footballer.
YouTube: Riyad Mahrez vs Manchester City (Away) 15-16 HD 720p
In my opinion, Mahrez will stay one more year at Leicester and represent them in the Champions League, and relish on competing in the greatest competition in world football. He might then make a big money move Leicester could never turn down and will develop into a world-class talent and maybe one of the best players in the world.
