Pep Guardiola has told Riyad Mahrez to be patient and ‘relax’ about his lack of consistent playing time at Manchester City.
Mahrez has been one of the bright spots in a challenging start to the season for the reigning Premier League champions, who already find themselves five points behind challengers Liverpool.
The Algeria international scored and assisted in Wednesday’s 3-0 Champions League victory over Shakhtar Donetsk, having already set up three goals in the opening weekend win at West Ham United.
Mahrez was reported to be disappointed with his lack of minutes at the end of last season, following what was a club record £60m arrival from Leicester City.
And even with Leroy Sané unavailable through injury, Mahrez has only started three of City’s six games at the start of the new campaign.
“I said many times he played good last season, except the first few games,” Guardiola said. “He was used to it different at Leicester, how competitive it is here especially.
“He loves to play football, the training, to be in contact with the ball. He goes to the training session and wants to have fun with the ball. I like it. He doesn’t feel too much pressure, a lot of confidence in himself.
“In terms of making bad actions, he wants the ball. He wants to try again. That’s the best detail for the players in the big clubs, he is quality. Perhaps he just needs to be more relaxed when he doesn’t play.”
