Leicester City will resist selling Riyad Mahrez in the January transfer window, with the club’s manager, Claude Puel, impressed by the Algerian’s progress under his stewardship.
Liverpool and Arsenal have been credited with an interest in Mahrez, as a potential replacement for Philippe Coutinho or Alexis Sánchez respectively. The winger, who had been granted leave from the Algeria squad on deadline day in August in anticipation of a possible move, has been rejuvenated of late with eight goals and seven assists this season, and was excellent again at Chelsea in the goalless draw on Saturday.
“He has a fantastic influence on the team, a valuable player for the team,” said Puel, who has struck up a close bond with Mahrez. “We can see he is enjoying his football and is happy with his team-mates and with us. It’s important for us to keep our best players.
“The good ambition for him is to continue this hard work, to show his consistency game after game, until the end of the season. He has come back at a good level: he is clinical, with assists, with goals, and it’s important he continues this work and shows people the player he is, without the ball [and] with it. He is making progress. It’s a good thing of course, [if] he continues all season with us.”
Asked whether he would understand if the 26-year-old agitated for a January move, Puel said: “It’s not a question in our mind. All the noise is just speculation. Of course we are in the transfer window and it’s normal for all the best players [to be linked with transfers], but I’m not afraid about this because there’s a fantastic spirit and good attitude in this squad.”
“I have confidence in Riyad. We spoke a lot with him, [about] different things, and often about football, because he likes football a lot. He is now with good maturity, good experience of life, and we can see this in this game.”
The club may be willing to sell Islam Slimani, with Puel conceding he has “six strikers for just two positions”.
