Pep Guardiola insists Riyad Mahrez will be a part of Manchester City's future.
The former Leicester star, signed for a club-record fee of £60m last summer, has struggled to become a first team regular at the Etihad with Bernardo Silva and Raheem Sterling excelling out wide and Leroy Sane adding to the competition.
Despite making 26 starts and 41 appearances in total, Mahrez has been overlooked for a string of critical games in 2019 and the Mail reported on Tuesday that the 28-year-old has been complaining openly at the training ground that he should have played more.
Guardiola accepted that it is not easy to stay in the City team but believes that Mahrez still has a big future at the Etihad.
"Riyad will be with us for the next season here and the next one and the next one," he said.
"I don’t need to speak with him [about it]. He will be with us next season.
"He is a player for us. We are delighted with his behaviour and the way he plays. He knows - and everybody knows - the competition in the squad but he is happy and we are happy."
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